Withdrawal in the food industry and drinks due to pollution incidents may have catastrophic effects. Companies must not only pay fines and compensation, but the impact on the brand’s repute could also be long -lasting.
This is why Large.bioParis startup Deeptech, tries to rediscover microbiology tests to avoid one other PR crisis in the food industry. After collecting EUR 8 million (8.3 million dollars at current exchange rates) just over a 12 months ago the company just provided a round of series A $ 23 million.
Singular He runs a round. Point 72 Ventures, 1st Kind Ventures (Family Office of the Peugeot Family office), Station F and Lord David Prior. Localgglobe investors, lack of label and famille C projects, also bring more cash in the company.
The reason why a large one managed to raise so quickly after the initial round of seeds is that there is a real interest in customers. The startup has already signed several industrial contracts that may hide up to 200 factories. Little.bio had to open the waiting list to make sure that he could sustain with demand.
So what makes the technology large.bio unique? In the food and drink industry, microbiological tests require several days. Companies must take a sample and send it to a specialized laboratory for testing.
“Imagine it, we are in 2022, everything is hyperoptimized. Everywhere you have slim production, each step is optimized and counted in a few minutes to get the result, go from step to the second, “said Techcrunch, co-founder and general director of Aine Raji. “A BAM, you have a 5-day unattainable test in the agri-food sector and a 14-day test in pharmaceutical sectors and cosmetics to get the result, because you have to wait for bacterial growth.”
First of all, tests must happen outside the headquarters, because tests based on Petri-Dish include demultipizing all potential bacteria. So you possibly can’t risk pollution of other parts of the factory during testing. Secondly, a part of bacterial incubation takes time.
Little.bio uses a completely different process. The company sends light to specific wavelengths towards the sample and records a spectral signature. Thanks to a previously trained deep learning algorithm, it will probably detect whether this specific sample accommodates bacteria or pathogens.
This model is the most significant BIO resource. Startup has signed cooperation with the Pasteur Institute to gain access to biobank bacterial samples.
In the coming months, he wants to produce test machines, which customers can use directly in their very own factories. As a result, microbiology tests can happen directly on site. The company claims that it reduces the overall process from days to several minutes.
Before establishing a lot of.bio, Raji was the production engineer for food and drinks working for Nestlé. He naturally focused on the industry he already knew. However, it seems that microbiology tests are much greater than expected.
Cosmetic products also expressed interest in Bio.bio technology. “Manufacturers must get rid of preservatives due to customer requirements, environmental fears and other reasons. It’s just that preservatives are preservatives killing bacteria-said Raji.
Similarly, the pharmaceutical industry has found a case of using the most advanced treatment methods. “There is a growing need, especially in the case of innovative therapies, such as gene and cell therapy,” said Raji. He added that these products tend to a short durability period, which might be only seven days. So these therapies cannot undergo atypical test processes in such a short time.
In today’s financing round, Startup expects significantly the development of their team. Currently, 30 people work for the company, and by the end of 2025 they’ll go 50.