SEED Biosciences joins three talented ventures at StartLab

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Eugène Schön

13.11.2018

Personalized medicine enabler SEED Biosciences will be the 4th start-up to join Biopôle’s StartLab, the first incubator dedicated to life sciences located in the Canton of Vaud. The EPFL spinoff’s application was unanimously appreciated by the StartLab Advisory Board. 

Just a few days after winning CHF 130’000 in the Venture Kick’s Final, Vaud medtech SEED Biosciences becomes the 4th life science startup selected to join Biopôle’s StartLab in Epalinges. The first three companies were HaYa Therapeutics, GNUbiotics and Volumina Medical, all award-winning swiss ventures.

A personalized medicine enabler
SEED Biosciences developed DispenCell, a compact pipetting robot to enable scientists to precisely isolate single cells three times faster than existing solutions. Single cell isolation is a key enabling step in many biological processes, including the production of biologics, cancer diagnosis, stem cell therapies and personalized medicine.

Current methods of single cell isolation are not traceable yet, which implies that scientists invest up to five months in validation time or need to invest in very expensive equipment. The patented pipetting system also permits accurate traceability, complying with the most stringent industry and regulatory standards. With DispenCell, SEED Biosciences offers an affordable and intuitive single-cell solution to industry players competing in the emerging multi-billion market of personalized medicine. 

Matching biology and microtechnology
The project was born in 2013 from two EPFL Ph.D. students, Georges Muller from Prof. Yann Barrandon’s Lab and David Bonzon from Prof. Philippe Renaud’s Lab. Together they make a perfect match between biology and microtechnology to answer an unmet need for personalized medicine. The start-up employs seven talents, all financed by public grants (ENABLE, Innogrant, Innosuisse, and the Gebert Ruef Stiftung).

Speaking of the reasons that led SEED Biosciences application in StartLab, Georges Muller readily mentions the large community (clients, investors, experts, serial entrepreneurs) present on Biopôle’s site as well as its international network, the state of the art infrastructures and the coaching from experts.

Biopôle’s CEO Nasri Nahas was also impressed by the EPFL spinoff and the potential collaboration: “The StartLab Advisory Board was unanimously supportive of the candidature of SeedBiosciences to StartLab. The solidity of the science, the pertinence of the business model and the quality of the management team, are key ingredients to this."

"We are pleased with having selected four companies in the last nine months to join our tailored-made life sciences incubator. Our infrastructure, services and supports are valued by StartLab members with whom we work very closely to anchor them in the Canton of Vaud ecosystem. We are looking forward to collaborate with Georges and his team to assist him in turning his start-up to a successfully growing company.”

Ready to take on future challenges 
As the company gets ready to enter the StartLab Incubator, SEED Biosciences knows that a lot remains to be done. As George Muller explains, the company founded this Summer will face some important challenges such as getting its first clients to conduct validation studies and product development, start industrialization and fast-track certification. In the months to come, the medtech will also be completing its first seed round.

Applications open for the next batch
Swiss life science startups wishing to seize the StartLab Incubator opportunity can send their application until December 31st. Selected startups will join the next cohort in Lausanne. More information is available on StartLab website.

Photo: Georges Muller (l), CEO and cofounder at SEED Biosciences; Biopôle’s CEO Nasri Nahas (r)

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