Meet Spore.Bio: A French Startup that has Developed an AI-Powered New Pathogen-Detection Methodology

Dear Reader,

For food, beverage, and drug manufacturers, traditional microbiological testing methods, such as plating and culturing, take several days to produce results. This delay can lead to significant problems for food and beverage manufacturers, who need to quickly identify and address contamination to ensure product safety and quality…sometimes leading to food recalls that we often see in the news.

The global food and beverage microbiology testing market is valued at approximately $10 billion. It is expected to grow significantly in the coming years due to increasing demand for food safety and quality assurance.

In this newsletter post, we would like to feature Spore.Bio. A French startup that has developed a novel technology that can rapidly quantify microbiological loads within seconds without the need for culturing or enrichment. The technology utilizes advanced optics to snap a “picture” of the sample. Their AI, trained with their proprietary data, analyzed spectral signatures of bacteria, providing reliable and accurate results in real time.

The solution measures the total variable counts: count the amount of bacteria in the sample. They are targeting 95% accuracy which is much higher than required by regulations.

This helps manufacturers know, within a few seconds, if there is a risk of contamination on their product.

Unique IP:

The startup's unique IP lies in its combination of advanced optics and AI algorithms. The use of imaging allows for the rapid and non-destructive analysis of samples. Deep learning models are trained on extensive datasets of spectral signatures to recognize and classify different types of bacteria. This enables the technology to provide accurate and reliable results in real time, without the need for human interpretation.

"Our technology requires really low quantities of OPEX compared to conventional techniques. We don't use any dyes or any chemicals compared to the other alternative methods." Maxime Mistretta, CTO, Founder

Strong Early Traction:

The startup has already secured contracts with major food and beverage manufacturers to deploy its prototypes. The positive feedback and interest from industry leaders indicate the technology's strong potential to revolutionize microbiological testing. They recently raised 8M euros.

No surprise they are actively recruiting for the following positions: Technical Ops, Mechatronic engineer, Data engineer, Microbio Engineer and Interns as well

"We're basically trying to solve a really, really old issue...by bringing 21st-century technologies to solve it. Advanced physics and machine learning." Amine Raji, Founder, Spore Bio