BII's Start-up Stories: February
BioInnovation Institute (BII)
Bringing ideas to life and research to market
Welcome to the February edition of the BII Start-up Stories newsletter. Although February is the shortest month of the year, our start-ups have certainly taken full advantage of the limited days at their disposal. Among the news in the month's digest are a working agreement with the Dutch government, investments, the release of the world's first quantum large language model, board establishments and, like last time, a few podcast features.
Sounds interesting? Dig into the digest below!
We are happy to welcome the eighth Venture Lab cohort to BII featuring 12 innovative companies.
💊💉In human health, we welcome Synuca Therapeutics, Incipiam Pharma, Beech Biotech SA, Akasi Pharma, Proxi Biotech, 3Sonic, Xterna and Navira.
🌍🌱In planetary health, we welcome NanoGuard Crop Solutions, Gefjon Pharma, microMINER, and Cerelixis.
We look forward to seeing what they achieve during their time at BII and following their journey once they leave the nest. Like their predecessors, we are certain they will bring many great innovation stories for us to share with you in future newsletters.
Enduro Genetics has secured EUR 12M in Series A funding to enhance its synthetic biology platform and expedite commercialization. Investors include Supernova Invest, NOON Ventures, and Sandwater. The BII alumni start-up specializes in "synthetic addiction" technology, which improves microbial productivity for scalable bioproduction. Finans also brought the story. Read their article here.
SECQAI, which participated in the first NATO DIANA cohort at BII and is currently in the second phase of the acceleration program, has developed the world's first quantum large language model (QLLM). This model integrates quantum computing into traditional AI models to enhance computational efficiency and problem-solving capabilities. The QLLM is entering private beta testing with select partners in February 2025. Potential applications include optimizing semiconductor layouts, uncovering hidden patterns in encryption, and aiding drug design by modeling molecular interactions with greater precision.
Aarhus University spin-out Teitur Trophics has received a EUR 2M Eurostars grant for its new RE-HEAR project, which aims to develop novel peptide-based treatments targeting hidden and age-related hearing loss. Collaborators include French biotech company Cilcare and the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW. The project is set to commence in April 2025 and will span 36 months. Teitur Trophics participated in BII's former Creation House program from 2020 to 2021.
Venture House start-up Loma Therapeutics, which is working to transform cancer treatment by developing immunotherapy that can effectively target HPV+ cancers, announced the establishment of its board of directors on February 14. The board consists of Alejandra Mørk, Leif Helth Jensen, Stuart Collinson, and Ralf Wagner, who together have several decades of biotech experience ranging from industry to venture capital to research to entrepreneurship.
BII alumni companies TetraKit Technologies and MyoPax have been selected along with 69 other companies for the @EIC Accelerator. The 71 companies were selected among 1211 submitted proposals, making it the most competitive funding round since the launch of the Accelerator under Horizon Europe. Altogether, the cohort will receive up to EUR 161M in grants and approximately EUR 226M in equity. MyoPax, which joined BII in our former Creation House program in 2022, works to restore muscle function in local defects and muscle wasting disorders by delivering effective muscle regeneration therapies. Tetrakit Technologies is developing the next generation of theranostic radiopharmaceuticals, which will improve patient care and disease outcomes. The company participated in our Venture Lab and Venture House program from 2022 until 2024.
The Netherlands Ministry of Defence's Materiel and IT Command (COMMIT) has selected six companies and research institutions to develop quantum solutions for technical and operational challenges. Among them is Qubitrium , which participated in the first cohort of the DIANA program at BII last year. Qubitrium focuses on quantum technologies for cryptography, communication, and sensing, providing advanced products and services to facilitate industrial adoption.
Venture House start-up Fuse Vectors has secured USD 5.2M in pre-seed financing led by HCVC to advance its cell-free viral vector technology for gene therapy. Following the investment, the start-up was featured in Forbes to shed light on how it addresses the cost and unpredictability challenges of traditional gene therapy. With its cell-free approach, Fuse Vectors aims to reduce production time and costs while enhancing vector quality, thereby expanding the accessibility of gene therapies.
At the end of January, Cambiotics founders Kiran Raosaheb Patil and Peter Holme Jensen were featured in James Geering's Behind the Shield podcast to discuss their early lives in India and Denmark, Parkinson's Disease, the healing power of the microbiome, the dangers of PFAS in firefighting clothing and foam, and more. Cambiotics, which recently graduated from BII's Venture Lab program, is developing precision probiotics to detoxify the human body from PFAS.
Rahul Tyagi, CEO and Founder of SECQAI, was featured in the fifth season of IOT Unplugged, hosted by IoT Insider. In the episode, Rahul discusses the security risks and need for stringent cybersecurity in connected device ecosystems. The podcast does not cover SECQAI's recent launch of their Quantum Large Language Model, mentioned in the news section above.
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