Reminders in the food and drinks industry due to contamination incidents can have catastrophic effects. Not only do companies have to pay fines and damage, but the brand’s reputation impacts can be durable.
That’s why Spore.bioA Paris -based Deeptech startup is trying to reinvent microbiology tests to avoid the next public relations crisis in the food industry. After lifting A pre-grown round of 8 million euros (8.3 million dollars at current exchange rates) Just over a year ago, the company has just obtained a series of $ 23 million per turn.
Singular leads the tour. Point 72 Ventures, 1st Kind Ventures (The Family Office of the Peugeot Family), Station F and Lord David Prior also participate. Localglobe existing investors, No Label Ventures and Famille C also put more money in the company.
The reason why SPORE.BIO managed to get up so quickly after its pre-series cycle is that there is a real customer interest. The startup has already signed a few commercial contracts that can cover up to 200 factories. SPORE.BIO had to open a waiting list to ensure that it can meet the request.
So what makes SPORE.BIO technology special? In the food and drinks industry, microbiological tests require several days. Companies must provide a sample and send it to a specialized laboratory for tests.
“Imagine this, we are in 2022, everything is super optimized. You have Lean manufacturing everywhere, each step is optimized and counted in a few minutes to obtain a result, to go from a step to the next one, “the co-founder and CEO Amine Raji told Techcrunch. “And BAM, you have an unpondrable 5 -day test in the food industry and a 14 -day test in the pharmaceutical and cosmetic sectors, to obtain a result because you have to wait for bacteria to develop.”
First, tests must occur out of site because tests based on dishists involve all potential bacteria. So you cannot risk contaminating other parts of the factory with your tests. Second, the bacteria’s incubation part takes time.
SPORE.BIO uses a completely different process. The company sends light to specific wavelengths to a sample and records the spectral signature. Thanks to a pre-formed depth learning algorithm, it can detect whether this specific sample contains bacteria or pathogens.
This model is a most important asset of spore.bio. The startup has signed a partnership with the Pastor Institute to access his bacteria biobank samples.
In the coming months, he wishes to make test machines that customers can use directly in their own factories. Consequently, microbiology tests can occur directly on the site. The company says it reduces the overall process of days to a few minutes.
Before founding SPORE.BIO, Raji was a food manufacturing engineer and drinks working for Nestlé. He naturally focused on the industry he already knew. But it turns out that microbiology tests are much larger than expected.
Companies manufacturing cosmetic products have also expressed their interest in SPORE.BIO technology. “Manufacturers must get rid of the Conservatives due to customer demands, environmental concerns and other reasons. Except that the Conservatives are conservatives of bacteria killers, ”said Raji.
Likewise, the pharmaceutical industry has found a use of its most advanced treatments. “There is a growing need, especially for innovative therapies, such as gene and cellular therapy,” said Raji. He added that these products tend to have a short shelf life, which can be as low as seven days. These therapies cannot therefore go through the usual test processes within such a short time.
With today’s financing tour, the startup plans to considerably develop its team. There are currently 30 people working for the company, and they will have 50 years by the end of 2025.
