Spore.Bio raises $23M to apply machine learning to microbiology testing
Recalls in the food and beverage industry as a result of contamination incidents can have catastrophic effects. Companies must not only pay fines and damage, but the impact on the reputation of the brand can be long -term.
That is why Spore.bioA DeepTech startup based in Paris tries to reinvent the microbiology tests to prevent the next PR crisis in the food industry. After a little more than a little more than a year ago, after a pre-seed round of € 8 million ($ 8.3 million against the current exchange rates), the company has just provided a Serie A-round of $ 23 million.
Singular leads the round. Point 72 Ventures, 1st child Ventures (the family office of the Peugeot family), Station F and Lord David Prior also participate. Existing investors LocalGlobe, no label Ventures and Famle C also put more money in the company.
The reason why Spore.bio in it has succeeded in increasing so quickly after the pre-seed round is that there is really interest in customers. The startup has already signed some commercial contracts that can cover a maximum of 200 factories. Spore.bio had to open a waiting list to ensure that it can keep the question.
So what makes Spore.bio’s technology special? Microbiological tests require a few days in the food and beverage industry. Companies must take a sample and send it to a specialized laboratory for testing.
“Imagine this, we are in 2022, everything is hyper-optimized. You have lean production everywhere, every step is optimized and counted in minutes to get a result, to go from one step to the next, ”co-founder and CEO Amine Raji told WAN. “And BAM, you have a 5-day impaidable test in the Agri-Food sector and 14-day test in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics sectors to get a result because you have to wait until the bacteria grow.”
Firstly, testing has to take place, because testing on the basis of Petri-Dishen includes the demulty of potential bacteria. So you cannot run the risk of polluting other parts of the factory with your tests. Secondly, the incubation part of bacteria takes time.
Spore.bio uses a completely different process. The company sends light on specific wavelengths to a sample and records the spectral signature. Thanks to a pre -trained deep leather algorithm, it can detect whether specific sample contains bacteria or pathogens.
That model is spore.bio’s most important asset. The Startup has signed a partnership with the Pasteur Institute to access its biobank of bacterial samples.
In the coming months, the testing machines want to produce that customers can use directly in their own factories. As a result, the testing of microbiology can take place directly on location. The company claims that it reduces the total process from days to a matter of minutes.
Before he founded Spore.bio, Raji was a production engineer for food and drink that worked for Nestlé. He naturally focused on the industry he already knew. But it appears that testing the microbiology is much larger than expected.
Companies that produce cosmetic products have also shown interest in the technology of Spore.bio. “Manufacturers must get rid of preservatives due to the requirements of the customer, environmental problems and other reasons. Except that preservatives are bacteria-dead preservatives, “said Raji.
Similarly, the pharmaceutical industry found a use case for its most advanced treatments. “There is a growing need, especially for innovative therapies, such as gene and cell therapy,” said Raji. He added that these products tend to have a short shelf life that can be as low as seven days. These therapies cannot therefore go through the usual test processes in such a short period of time.
With today’s financing round, the startup expects to grow his team considerably. There are currently 30 people working for the company and they will be 50 by the end of 2025.
