Draft:Diederik Mud

Diederik Mud (born c. 1996, Leiden, Netherlands) is a Dutch biotechnology entrepreneur and the co-founder and CEO of Bionomic B.V., a startup developing biological crop-protection products (biopesticides) targeting Fusarium fungal pathogens. He is based in Noordwijk-Binnen in the province of South Holland.[1]

Early life and education

Mud grew up in the Bollenstreek (bulb-growing region) of the Netherlands. He studied Biology and Medical Laboratory Research at the Hogeschool Leiden (Leiden University of Applied Sciences), where he met future co-founder Stan Aanhane. During their studies they participated in the Honours programme, an advanced independent-research track, and together developed a PCR-based diagnostic tool for detecting Fusarium fungal infections in tulip bulbs — the project that seeded the idea for Bionomic.[2][3]

After his applied-sciences degree, Mud completed a master's in Life Sciences & Business Studies at Leiden University. During that period he interned at Johnson & Johnson's pharmaceutical division (Janssen Biologics) and also conducted research at the Leiden University Medical Center, while simultaneously developing Bionomic with Aanhane in the evenings at the Leiden Bio Science Park (LBSP).[4][5]

Career

Following the completion of his master's degree, Mud transitioned to working full-time on Bionomic alongside Aanhane at the LBSP in Oegstgeest. He has described the shift from a technical scientific mindset to an entrepreneurial one as one of the most significant challenges of founding the company at an early career stage.[2]

In his role as CEO, Mud is responsible for the commercial development of Bionomic, drawing on his combined background in life sciences and business studies. He has represented the company at national and international innovation missions, including a visit to Brazil, where he observed that approval processes for biological crop-protection products can proceed up to eight times faster than in the Netherlands.[2][6]

Bionomic

Overview

Bionomic B.V. was founded in 2021 and is headquartered in Oegstgeest, Netherlands, at the Leiden Bio Science Park. The company develops environmentally friendly biopesticides specifically targeting soil-borne fungal pathogens — primarily Fusarium oxysporum and Rhizoctonia — that cause severe crop losses in tulips, onions, tomatoes, cotton, and bananas worldwide.[7][8]

Bionomic's approach involves identifying micro-organisms that naturally produce molecules effective against Fusarium, isolating those active substances via fermentation, and formulating them into a biological control agent. Unlike conventional biological pest-control methods that deploy living organisms directly, Bionomic uses only the purified active substance, making the product less sensitive to weather conditions. The exact composition of the active substance is a commercial trade secret.[8]

Diagnostics

In addition to its biocontrol product, Bionomic also developed a molecular diagnostic tool to detect Fusarium infections at an early stage, enabling growers to assess disease pressure in a given field or batch before visible symptoms appear.[3]

Funding

Bionomic received initial funding from the Enterprise Leiden Fund, which enabled the purchase of the company's first laboratory equipment. The company subsequently secured investment from multiple sources including StartLife, HortiHeroes, Libertatis Ergo Holding, and unlock_. In November 2024, the South Holland proof-of-concept investment fund UNIIQ invested €350,000 in Bionomic, bringing total disclosed funding to approximately $576,000 (USD). The UNIIQ investment was designated for toxicological and ecotoxicological studies and scaling up production capacity.[9][10]

Due to the lengthy European approval process for plant-protection products — which can take 8–15 years — Bionomic has identified North America as its primary launch market, on the basis that regulatory dossiers compiled there can subsequently be used to support European approval applications.[8][11]

Recognition

In 2021, Mud and Aanhane were awarded best life-science startup of the year at a regional startup competition, with their concept "Soil Profile".[5] In early 2025, Mud was named by the Dutch financial newspaper Het Financieele Dagblad (FD) on its annual list of fifty young entrepreneurial talents — individuals selected for their innovative ideas and potential to advance the Netherlands' future, irrespective of revenue figures.[12] The company also won the innovation award of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce in 2025, and the international innovation award at the Greentech Americas in Mexico.

Views on regulation

Mud has been a consistent public advocate for reforming European regulatory frameworks for biological crop-protection products. He argues that the current approval system was designed around chemical pesticides and creates structural disadvantages for biological alternatives, even when they present lower environmental risks. He has noted that the EU's Farm to Fork strategy aims to halve pesticide use by 2030, yet the pace of approvals for biological alternatives remains too slow to fill the resulting gap.[2][8][11]



References

  1. 1] Crunchbase: Diederik Mud profile. crunchbase.com
  2. [2] HollandBIO interview, March 2026. hollandbio.nl
  3. [3] Hogeschool Leiden alumni feature, December 2024. hsleiden.nl
  4. [4] LinkedIn profile. linkedin.com/in/diederik-mud
  5. [5] Crunchbase: Bionomic company profile. crunchbase.com
  6. [6] HollandBIO interview (Brazil mission), March 2026.
  7. [7] PitchBook: Bionomic profile. pitchbook.com
  8. [8] NWO feature: "Start-up develops alternatives for chemical crop protection." nwo.nl
  9. [9] Silicon Canals, November 2024. siliconcanals.com
  10. [10] UNIIQ announcement, November 2024. uniiq.nl
  11. [11] Platform Bloem, October 2024. platform-bloem.nl
  12. [12] De Noordwijker, February 2025. denoordwijker.nl

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