The recent RAFT meeting (Recent Advances in Fermentation Technology, RAFT 16) held in Myrtle Beach (South Carolina) set the stage for initiating the collaboration between DECHEMA e.V. and the US Society of Industrial Microbiology (SIMB). Robert Donofrio (president of SIMB), Haley Cox and, as German ambassadors, Marco Oldiges, Ralf Takors and Peter Neubauer kicked off the joint initiative.