NSS Projects · Natanja S. Slager, PhD, MBA
Considering a partnership, an investment or an acquisition?
AgTech · Biotech · HealthTech
An independent read on whether the technology, the organisation and the partner can carry the deal, and when. Where there are gaps, I help close them, for the company and for those investing in or partnering with it.
PhD in bioinformatics, Executive MBA. Former COO of a plant-root breeding company, Corporate Investment Lead for AgTech at ICL Group, licensing advisor to a UK research institute.
Dutch by origin, based in Israel, working with companies in Europe, Israel and beyond
The problem
Ready, or just interesting?
Technology companies often stall once the science works, because going to market becomes the next challenge. Founders, investors and corporate partners each see a different part of it, with different concerns.
Having worked as an entrepreneur, operator, corporate investor and adviser across agriculture, biotech and health, I keep meeting the same situations, each with more than one possible way forward:
- How to turn the technology into a business?A technology may be worth more licensed than sold as a product.
- How to fund the next stage?A platform may have several paths to fundability.
- How to value what you have?A software model can undersell an asset that should be licensed.
Who I work with
The same question, asked from different places
Corporates
In-licensing, scouting and acquisitions: is the technology feasible, will it embed in your R&D and commercial organisation, and does it fit market demand and your portfolio and pipeline? As a retained mandate, I can run a standing channel to technology from Israel and beyond for you: scouting, readiness screening and the first agreements.
Investors
A technical and commercial read on AgTech, Biotech and HealthTech deals: does the science hold, and can the business case realise the opportunity?
Research institutes and tech transfer offices
Turning research into licences and collaborations that work after signature: royalty bases that match the market valuation of the technology, a clear line between research and commercial rights, and commercialisation plans that lead to market adoption. Options include interim licensing support, working the days you need inside your own policies, approvals and legal counsel.
Startups and scale-ups
Bringing the technology to market: the business model, the first customers, operations and scaling that match the strategic plan. Not sure yet which path fits? We start by laying out the options and what each would ask of the company. When a partnership, licence or exit comes up: an honest read of where the company stands, preparation for a partner's or investor's diligence, and the agreement that fits it.
What I do
Partnerships and business strategy
Choosing the first application, the right partner and the right structure, including spin-outs, and a go-to-market plan that fits how the niche actually buys. For corporates, this can include setting up an innovation platform for internal ideas and outside technology, from first screening to a decision to develop, partner or shelve.
Licensing and collaboration agreements
In- and out-licensing, evaluation and research licences, joint development agreements. Royalty structures, IP and plant breeders' rights, germplasm, material and data access, negotiation support through to signature.
Investment and acquisition reviews
A second opinion for funds and corporates before they invest or acquire, in effect due diligence on the science, the IP and the business plan built on them.
I act for one party in a deal, and confirm in writing before we start that I hold no mandate with, or stake in, the other parties. If the HealthTech fund I advise is involved, I tell you before we start.
Fixed-scope reviews
Partnership Readiness Review
For companies considering a technology partner abroad, the memo answers four questions about the match:
- Is the timing right? Do the company’s funding stage, existing partners and platform fit your needs?
- What are the weaknesses and risks of the partnership?
- What should the first agreement cover, and what can wait?
- How do you make sure a “yes” means the same thing to both parties?
- What you receive
- A memo of up to five pages: background, the technology, the market, the timing and a risk overview. Then a debrief.
- How it runs
- Discussions with stakeholders at each party
- Analysis
- A call with you to test the analysis
- The memo
- Debrief
- What I need from you
- A brief, introductions to each party and the relevant documents.
- What it does not cover
- A legal opinion, and engineering or regulatory due diligence.
Due diligence
For funds and corporates about to invest or acquire, the report answers four questions:
- Does the science hold, and what is the evidence?
- Is the IP and regulatory position clear, including a deep dive into specific flags a customer wants tested?
- Can the business case realise the opportunity?
- What risks are there, and how can they be mitigated?
- What you receive
- A report, as a Word document or a slide deck, on the science, the IP and regulatory position, the business plan, and a risk overview with ways to mitigate each risk. Then a debrief.
- What it does not cover
- Formal IP and regulatory opinions. I give first insights, which specialists should confirm.
Term sheet review
For companies about to negotiate or sign a licence, the memo answers four questions:
- Do the royalty structure and base match how the market prices the technology?
- Is the line between research and commercial rights clear?
- Which terms are unusual for this kind of deal, and which are missing?
- What should you ask for, what can you concede, and what can wait?
- What you receive
- A marked-up term sheet and a short memo with recommended positions. Then a debrief.
- What it does not cover
- A legal opinion on the final agreement, and any professional regulatory or IP opinion. Your counsel or specialists provide these if required.
Scale-ups negotiating with a foreign partner can commission the Partnership Readiness Review from their own side.
How engagements usually work
- A defined piece of work at a fixed fee, such as a Partnership Readiness Review, a due diligence, a term sheet review or a commercialisation plan.
- Ongoing advisory, on an hourly or monthly basis, alongside your team.
- A retained mandate, shaped around what you need: a set number of hours a week, a fractional business-development role, an advisory-board seat, a block of time around one deal, or a retainer combined with a success fee at signing.
These are starting points. Most engagements combine them, and I am glad to shape one around your situation and budget.
Sectors
Ag/FoodTech, Biotech and HealthTech
Agriculture and food take most of my advisory time today. In health and biotech I am a Strategic Advisor and investment committee member for a HealthTech VC fund, and the same deal patterns keep appearing.
AgTech and FoodTech
- Crop traits, gene editing and breeding
- Germplasm access and seed businesses
- Biologicals and crop inputs
- Precision agriculture, digital tools and AI
- Ingredients and alternative proteins
HealthTech and life sciences
- Medical devices
- Diagnostics and computational platforms
- Drug-development programmes
- Digital health and AI
Roles and current work
Where this is applied today
Client names are kept confidential.
- Licensing advisor
A UK research institute: in- and out-licensing of crop and plant-cell technologies, from framework and term sheet to signature, and commercialisation planning.
- Strategic Advisor and investment committee member
An early-stage HealthTech VC fund: deal sourcing and technical due diligence.
- M&A partner
For company sales and acquisitions in agriculture, I work through a dedicated M&A partnership I co-founded, together with a former R&D leader from global crop-science companies.
- Mentor and speaker
AgTech accelerator programmes and startup events: mentoring startups through partnership, licensing and unit-economics questions, and talks on startup strategy.
Fit, strategy and timing in practice
Collaboration before capital
In my corporate roles, collaborations before investments or acquisitions taught me that the parties need to get to know each other and test the commercial and scientific fit first, for better and for worse. I now analyse that fit before any deal.
A spin-out question that renewed the project
A MedTech company weighing a spin-out of its consumer product. I built a strategy for the product, prepared the team for fundraising and brought in CEO candidates. Using the new strategy, the company was able to keep the product in-house with a renewed vision and mission; it has since gained a new FDA clearance and been relaunched.
Good technology, wrong moment
A good fit, but the startup was in the middle of a fundraise, which left no room for deep discussion. Recognising that early saved my client months of talks that could not go anywhere.
- EducationPhD Bioinformatics · Executive MBA, Kellogg
- LanguagesEnglish, Dutch, Hebrew, Portuguese
- BasedIsrael since 1993, Dutch by origin
- GovernanceIsraeli Directors Registry
About
Natanja S. Slager
I trained as a scientist, with a PhD in bioinformatics on cancer genetics, and have spent the twenty years since on the business side of science. I managed drug and medical-device start-ups in an incubator and led drug development programmes for a biopharmaceutical company. As COO of Rootility, a plant-root breeding company, I built the operations from scratch, including an automated robotic grafting facility in California. I ran NSS Projects from 2018 to 2022. At ICL Group I was Corporate Investment Lead for AgTech and later led business development and product for internal innovation. I returned to NSS Projects in 2026.
Working between international teams in my different roles taught me that partnerships across borders more often break on pace, expectations and what each party means by "yes" than on the contract itself.
Along the way I have negotiated licences as an entrepreneur, assessed them as a corporate investor, and had to make the technology work afterwards as an operator. NSS Projects brings that experience to one question: does this deal fit each party's capabilities, expectations and needs?
Contact
Looking at a technology company and not sure it is the right fit for you, or you for it? On the way to a strategic agreement and not sure what to aim for? Or scaling a company and weighing which next step suits it, a partner, an investor or an exit?
I would be glad to hear where you are, and to think it through with you.
You are welcome to set up an introductory conversation at no charge. I reply within two working days, and what you share stays confidential. If the chemistry works, I send a short proposal with scope, timing and fee.
Or write directly to natanja@nessprojects.com
Introducing someone? Open a prefilled email to them, with me copied in, and add a line on why you thought of them.