In the food and beverage sector, contamination-related recalls can have disastrous effects on a business. In addition to facing penalties and damages, businesses may also experience long-term effects on their brand’s reputation.
To avoid the next food sector PR problem, Spore Bio, a deep tech firm based in Paris, is attempting to redefine microbiological testing. A little over a year after raising €8 million in a pre-seed round ($8.3 million at current currency rates), the company recently secured a $23 million Series A financing.
Spore. Due to genuine consumer demand, Bio was able to attract a lot of money after its pre-seed round. The business had to create a waitlist in order to meet demand, and it has already inked a few commercial contracts that span up to 200 factories.
However, what is unique about Spore. Bio’s technology? Microbiology tests in the food and beverage sector take days to complete. Because petri-dish-based testing entails demultiplexing any potential bacteria, businesses must collect a sample and send it to a specialist lab for testing, which must be done off-site. So you can’t risk your tests infecting other areas of the factory. Second, it takes time for the germs to incubate.
Spore.Bio is employing an entirely other method. The business records the spectral signature of a sample after directing light at particular wavelengths toward it. It can determine whether that particular sample contains any germs or pathogens because of a deep learning algorithm that has already been taught.
Spore is that model.Bio’s most valuable resource. In order to gain access to the Pasteur Institute’s collection of bacterial samples, the firm has partnered with them.
The business plans to produce testing equipment that its clients can use in their factories and conduct on-site microbial testing in the upcoming months. According to the company, their method cuts down the time from days to only a few minutes.
Before founding Spore. Bio: Raji worked for Nestlé as an engineer for food and beverage processing. Naturally, he concentrated on the field he was already familiar with, but microbiology testing was far more widespread than he had thought.
Raji stated, “Manufacturers need to get rid of preservatives due to customer demands, environmental concerns, and other reasons. Except that preservatives are bacteria-killing preservatives,”.
In a similar vein, the pharmaceutical sector discovered a market for its most sophisticated medications. “The need is increasing, particularly for novel treatments like gene and cell therapy,” Raji stated. He went on to say that because these goods often have a seven-day shelf life, the medicines cannot undergo the standard testing procedures in such a short period of time.
By the end of 2025, the firm hopes to have grown from 30 employees to 50 with today’s fundraising round.
