Advanced Therapies Congress 2026
London, United Kingdom · EventEurope's largest cell and gene therapy event. Price: about GBP 2000; startups often access subsidized exhibition pods. Strong for biotech founders and manufacturing partners.
Directory
Biotech startup ecosystem
Europe's biotech ecosystem benefits from world-class research universities, strong IP frameworks, and growing specialist VC funds. The UK, Switzerland, and the Nordics are particularly strong in drug discovery, diagnostics, and synthetic biology. We track 93 organisations in this sector across 6+ countries.
93 entries.
Aerska
Dublin, Ireland · StartupAerska is a Dublin-based RNA medicines biotech company that uses proprietary brain shuttle technology to overcome the blood-brain barrier and deliver RNAi therapies for neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. Founded in 2025 by Jack O'Meara, Dave Hardwicke, and Stu Milstein, the company emerged from stealth in October 2025 with a $21 million seed round, then closed a $39 million Series A in February 2026 led by EQT Dementia Fund and age1, bringing total funding to $60 million.
Aidan King
Dublin, Ireland · PersonManaging Partner and co-founder of Fountain Healthcare Partners. A pharmacist by training and former Elan executive, he invests across biopharmaceuticals and medical devices and has helped guide the firm's three funds and more than €425M under management.
ALBUPAD
Strasbourg, France · StartupDeveloped a proprietary biomaterial made from albumin — fully biocompatible and biodegradable — engineered for next-generation drug delivery and tissue engineering, with natural tumour tropism and built-in imaging visibility. Founded 2023.
Algalíf
Reykjavik, Iceland · StartupAlgalíf is an Icelandic biotechnology company founded in 2012 that produces high-grade natural astaxanthin from microalgae using 100% renewable geothermal energy in a fully enclosed indoor photobioreactor system. The company is certified carbon-negative, binding 75 tonnes of CO2 annually, and holds over $50M in cumulative investment. In 2025 Algalíf launched Astalíf 15, the world's first 15% natural astaxanthin oleoresin, and broke ground on the world's largest natural astaxanthin facility (12,500 m²). The board initiated IPO preparations for 2025 and appointed new leadership following the departure of long-serving CEO Orri Björnsson.
Algorithmiq
Milan, Italy · StartupQuantum software company relocated its global headquarters from Helsinki to Milan in May 2026, marking Italy's largest-ever quantum computing investment round of €18M. Develops quantum algorithms and classical-quantum hybrid software targeting drug discovery and industrial optimisation, with a focus on near-term quantum hardware.
Alithea Bio
Freiburg, Germany · StartupAccelerates cancer immunotherapy development with its HLA-Compass platform, a large quantitative database of HLA peptide presentation. AI-driven analytics predict off-target toxicity and support target discovery for safer, more precise therapies.
Aphea.Bio
Ghent, Belgium · StartupAphea.Bio develops microbial-based biological crop solutions that replace synthetic pesticides and fertilisers — biostimulants, biofungicides, bioherbicides and bioinsecticides — using its proprietary APEXbio™ platform. The technology was spun out of research at Ghent University, KU Leuven and VIB. Co-founded in 2017 by Isabel Vercauteren (CEO) and Steven Vandenabeele, the company raised a €70 M Series C in July 2023 backed by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, SFPIM, BNP Paribas Fortis and Innovation Industries. In 2025 it secured a VLAIO grant to launch its TRANSCEND platform screening 5,000 proprietary microorganism candidates. Aphea.Bio holds B Corp certification and is a Ghent biotech hub anchor.
Aqemia
Paris, France · StartupAqemia is a Paris-based pharmatech company building an AI-driven drug discovery platform that combines quantum-inspired physics and machine learning to generate and prioritise novel drug candidates at scale. Founded in 2019 by quantum physics researcher Maximilien Levesque and former BCG consultant Emmanuelle Martiano, the company aims to design new molecules faster and cheaper than traditional methods. It raised a 60M euro Series A and later a $38M round led by Cathay Innovation in December 2024, bringing total funding past $100 million as it moves toward clinical trials and global expansion, including a London office.
Araris Biotech
Basel, Switzerland · StartupAraris Biotech is a Basel-based clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company founded in 2020 as a spin-out from the Paul Scherrer Institute and ETH Zurich. The company develops a proprietary antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) linker technology that enables precise attachment of cytotoxic payloads to standard, unmodified antibodies for targeted cancer therapy — unlike conventional ADC approaches that require chemical modification of the antibody itself. This plug-and-play technology gives pharma partners a faster, cleaner path to next-generation ADC cancer treatments. Araris raised a CHF 36 million Series A in 2023 led by V-Bio Ventures, with participation from Novartis Venture Fund and Pfizer Ventures. The company represents Switzerland's strength in precision medicine and its deep integration between academic research institutes and commercially focused biotech.
Atrandi Biosciences
Vilnius, Lithuania · StartupDevelops Semi-Permeable Capsule and droplet microfluidics partitioning technology enabling multi-step, multi-omic single-cell analysis workflows for research and high-throughput screening.
Azafaros
Leiden, Netherlands · StartupAzafaros is a clinical-stage biotech company developing oral therapies for rare genetic metabolic disorders, including lysosomal diseases. Its lead development strategy focuses on compounds designed to cross the blood-brain barrier and address severe neurological progression in underserved pediatric conditions.
Big Pi Ventures
Athens, Greece · Venture CapitalBig Pi Ventures was founded in 2018 by Marco Veremis, Alex Eleftheriadis, and Aristos Doxiadis, all seasoned entrepreneurs with exits to Splunk, Meta/Facebook, and global PE. The firm manages approximately €250M in AUM across an early-stage fund (Big Pi II, €50M, 2023) and a growth fund (€130M first close, targeting €200M). It follows a tech-first investment thesis focused on AI, deep tech, biotech, and IP-heavy companies built by founders with a Greek nexus — whether based in Greece or part of the global diaspora. Notable portfolio companies include TileDB, Numan, and Accusonus (acquired by Meta).
BIO-Europe Spring 2026
Lisbon, Portugal · EventLife sciences partnering conference in Lisbon built around structured 1:1 meetings between biotech startups, pharma companies, and investors. Registration costs about EUR 2800+. Covers drug discovery, clinical development, and licensing. Essential for biotech startups seeking licensing deals, co-development partnerships, and Series A+ funding from specialized life-science investors.
BioFIT 2026
Marseille, France · EventEurope's leading partnering event for early-stage life-sciences innovation and technology transfer, in its 15th edition at Parc Chanot in Marseille. Built around one-on-one partnering meetings, it is ideal for biotech and medtech founders seeking licensing deals, academic collaborations, and early investors.
BioInnovation Institute (BII)
Copenhagen, Denmark · IncubatorBioInnovation Institute is a life science incubator backed by the Novo Nordisk Foundation that helps researchers and founders turn biotech and health innovations into venture ready companies. Based in Copenhagen, BII provides lab space, grant funding, expert business support, and access to investors for projects in therapeutics, diagnostics, and industrial biotech. It runs programs for both idea stage research and early startups, de risking science heavy ventures before they seek larger capital. BII is a central node in the Danish life science startup pipeline.
Biomatter
Vilnius, Lithuania · StartupSynthetic biology company using generative AI to design novel proteins and enzymes from scratch, creating custom biomolecules for industrial, pharmaceutical and biotech applications.
BioNTech
Mainz, Germany · StartupBioNTech is a Mainz-based biotechnology company founded in 2008 by Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci, a husband-and-wife team of immunologists, alongside Christoph Huber. Originally focused on individualized mRNA cancer immunotherapies, BioNTech gained global prominence through its partnership with Pfizer to develop one of the first approved COVID-19 vaccines (Comirnaty), which generated tens of billions in revenue. The company is publicly traded on NASDAQ and continues to invest heavily in its oncology pipeline, infectious disease vaccines, and next-generation mRNA therapeutics.
Bioptimus
Paris, France · StartupBioptimus is the self-proclaimed "Mistral of Biology," spun out in early 2024 by a team of alumni from Google DeepMind and Owkin, including CEO Jean-Philippe Vert. The company is building what it calls the first universal foundation model for biology. Where large language models were trained on text to learn human language, Bioptimus trains on biological data—DNA sequences, protein structures, cellular imagery, and clinical phenotypes—to infer the underlying rules of life. The ambition is not just better predictions but a unified biological reasoning layer that can simulate outcomes before expensive lab work happens. By 2026, Bioptimus has moved from a research thesis to early commercial traction. After a $41M Series A in 2025, the company released its first commercial model that can predict how a specific molecule will interact with a human cell with unusually high accuracy. This enables in-silico screening that reduces wet-lab costs and improves hit rates for drug discovery. French pharma leaders such as Sanofi have begun using these models to prioritize compounds and compress early-stage discovery timelines. The product value is immediate: fewer failed experiments, faster candidate selection, and deeper mechanistic insight. Bioptimus' roadmap focuses on "multi-scale biology," connecting the micro level (genomics and proteomics) to the macro level (patient outcomes and clinical data). Rather than being limited to protein folding, the models aim to bridge across data modalities so a genetic mutation can be linked to disease pathways, tissue behavior, and potential therapeutic interventions. This requires data breadth and regulatory trust, and Bioptimus is building a defensive moat through European data sovereignty. It leverages partnerships with European research hospitals and biobanks to access high-quality patient data that is difficult for US competitors to acquire under GDPR constraints. That compliance burden becomes a competitive advantage: safer access, better provenance, and stronger alignment with European health data governance. The company remains deeply embedded in the Paris ecosystem. It was incubated inside Owkin before spinning out, maintains a presence around Station F, and benefits from the cross-pollination between French AI and biotech communities. Its investor base reflects that positioning: Sofinnova Partners, Bpifrance, Cathay Innovation, Xavier Niel, and Frst provide a blend of life-science expertise, sovereign capital, and deep-tech conviction. In 2026, Bioptimus is the clearest European bet that foundation models can unlock biology at scale—and a contender to become the default AI layer for drug discovery in Europe.
BIOSPAIN 2026
Bilbao, Spain · EventOne of Europe's largest biotech partnering events, in its 13th edition and run by industry association AseBio, known for its high volume of one-to-one investor and company meetings. Essential for biotech and life-sciences founders raising capital or seeking pharma and research partners.
Brain Bar 2026
Budapest, Hungary · EventA future-focused festival in Budapest exploring how technology, science, and society intersect. Draws 5,000+ attendees including founders, researchers, and policymakers. Known for provocative talks on AI, biotech, and the future of work. Tickets start from EUR 100.
Brunnur Ventures
Reykjavik, Iceland · Venture CapitalBrunnur Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2013 and focused on high-growth Icelandic startups. The firm backs scalable B2B software, gaming, biotech, cleantech, and marine-tech companies, writing initial seed cheques and following on through growth rounds. With around 34 portfolio companies, the firm has achieved notable exits including CCP Games and Oculis. Key partners include Founding Partner Sigurdur Arnljotsson and Managing Partner Arni Bloendal.
BSV Ventures
Vilnius, Lithuania · Venture CapitalBSV Ventures (formerly Baltic Sandbox Ventures) is an early-stage VC firm focused on deep tech, life sciences, and dual-use technologies across the Baltic region, with offices in Lithuania, Estonia, and Finland. It was founded in 2018 and offers both an incubation program and direct investment, writing pre-seed cheques up to €125,000 and seed cheques up to €400,000. In 2024 the firm closed a €15 million fund backed by NATO Innovation Fund and the Lithuanian national development institution ILTE. It has made over 27 investments.
Coinvest Capital
Vilnius, Lithuania · Venture CapitalCoinvest Capital is a state-backed co-investment fund established in 2018 as a 100% subsidiary of the National Development Bank ILTE, itself owned by Lithuania's Ministry of Finance, and co-funded by the European Union. The fund's model requires all investments to be made alongside accredited business angels or other VC funds, splitting upside in favour of private co-investors to grow Lithuania's angel ecosystem. With €44.3 million in committed capital, it has deployed over €25.9 million into 51 portfolio companies spanning AI, climate, biotech, defence, and frontier tech. Since 2023 it has earmarked roughly €6.8 million specifically for aerospace, defence, and dual-use startups, making it one of the earliest European sovereign funds to lean into defence tech.
Commercialization Reactor
Riga, Latvia · AcceleratorCommercialization Reactor is a deep-tech venture creation platform and accelerator established in 2009 in Riga, ranked among the most experienced science-commercialisation programmes in Europe. It pairs scientists and researchers with entrepreneurial co-founders to build deep-tech startups, and provides up to €50k in pre-seed investment through a six-month programme focused on market and customer development. In 2024 it launched ESA BIC Latvia as the national ESA incubation centre operator, and has supported over 40 portfolio ventures across biotech, cleantech, materials, and space.
Cradle
Amsterdam, Netherlands · StartupCradle is an Amsterdam-based biotech startup using generative AI to accelerate protein engineering. Founded in 2021 by former Google DeepMind researchers, the platform enables scientists to design and optimize proteins for therapeutics, vaccines, enzymes, and novel materials far faster than traditional methods. Cradle raised over $33 million, including a Series A led by Index Ventures, and works with pharmaceutical and industrial biotech customers globally. The company sits at the intersection of machine learning and life sciences, representing one of Europe's most promising AI-for-biology plays.
CureVac
Tuebingen, Germany · StartupCureVac is a biopharmaceutical company based in Tuebingen, Germany, founded in 2000 as a pioneer in mRNA technology. The company was one of the earliest to explore messenger RNA as a therapeutic platform, long before mRNA became a household term during the COVID-19 pandemic. While its first-generation COVID vaccine candidate underperformed in clinical trials, CureVac pivoted to next-generation mRNA technologies and partnered with GSK on a second-generation COVID vaccine and other infectious disease programs. The company is publicly traded on NASDAQ and continues developing its proprietary mRNA optimization platform.
CuspAI
Cambridge, United Kingdom · StartupCuspAI is a frontier AI company building a generative-AI search engine for materials that accelerates the discovery and design of new molecules and engineered materials. Users specify desired properties (for example, selective CO2 binding for carbon capture), and the platform generates, evaluates, and optimises synthesisable candidate structures. It combines generative foundation models, deep learning, and molecular and scientific simulation, targeting applications across carbon capture, water purification, energy storage, catalysis, and industrial chemistry. The company was co-founded in 2024 by Dr Chad Edwards (CEO) and Prof Max Welling (CTO), and is headquartered in Cambridge.
DeepTech Ventures Summit 2026 (September 2026)
Wickrange, Luxembourg · EventA deep-tech summit powered by Technoport that brings together Europe’s lab-to-market actors, including research institutions, technology-transfer offices, funding partners and entrepreneurs, to co-create structured deep-tech pathways. The invitation-only event features pre-arranged one-to-one matchmaking, an exhibition showcase and a demo zone of breakthrough technologies.
Diffusion Capital Partners
Istanbul, Turkey · Venture CapitalDiffusion Capital Partners (DCP) is Istanbul's leading deep-tech focused venture capital fund manager, with a team that began operations in 2007 and the fund formally established in 2015. DCP closed its first fund at €37M and launched a second fund targeting €35M, backing startups in BioTech, AgroTech, CleanTech, Robotics, Material Science, and Nanotechnology across Turkey and the broader region. The firm has made over 44 investments, primarily at Seed and early Series A stages with initial tickets typically below €500K. DCP's cumulative team experience spans over 70 years in high-tech sectors, offering portfolio companies business development, legal, and operational support alongside capital.
Dualyx
Ghent, Belgium · StartupVIB-linked biotech developing Treg-based immune modulators for hard-to-treat autoimmune diseases. Lead program DT-001 is a TNFR2 antibody agonist in IND-enabling studies. Founded 2020; raised EUR 40M Series A in 2023.
EcoBean
Warsaw, Poland · StartupCircular-economy startup commercializing technology to upcycle spent coffee grounds into bio-based ingredients, including oils, antioxidant fractions, polymer feedstocks, and protein-rich additives for cosmetics, packaging, and food supply chains.
Ena Prosser
Dublin, Ireland · PersonPartner and co-founder of Fountain Healthcare Partners. A biotechnologist with a PhD and former Enterprise Ireland and Elan experience, she leads investments across biopharma and diagnostics and manages many of the firm's cross-sector relationships.
ESCMID Global 2026 (ECCMID)
Munich, Germany · EventGlobal congress for clinical microbiology and infectious diseases at Messe Munich, drawing 15,000+ clinicians, researchers, and industry buyers from 130+ countries. Registration about EUR 600-900. Ideal for diagnostics, AMR, and medtech startups with clinical data seeking KOL validation, hospital pilots, and pharma partnerships.
Estonian HealthTech Week 2026
Tallinn, Estonia · EventA week-long showcase of Estonia's e-health, healthtech, and biotech ecosystem, opening in Tallinn and moving to Tartu, and including the DTx New Nordics Conference. Free to attend, designed for healthtech entrepreneurs, startups, clinicians, and investors.
ETH Zurich
Zurich, Switzerland · Innovation HubETH Zurich (Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule Zürich) is one of the world's leading technical universities, consistently ranked in the global top ten for engineering, computer science, and natural sciences. Founded in 1855 by the Swiss federal government, ETH Zurich has produced 22 Nobel laureates and is the academic origin of many of Europe's most important deep-tech companies, including Scandit, Planted, and Araris Biotech. Its Technology Transfer Office (ETH Transfer) manages IP licensing and supports spin-out creation, having enabled over 500 spin-off companies. ETH Zurich's Pioneer Fellowship and Student Project House programmes provide early-stage support to founders still on campus. For founders in the Swiss ecosystem, ETH Zurich is the deepest single source of engineering talent, research partnerships, and institutional credibility across fields from quantum computing and robotics to materials science and food technology.
Exciva
Heidelberg, Germany · StartupClinical-stage biotech developing therapeutics for neuropsychiatric disorders. Lead program Deraphan targets agitation and aggression in Alzheimer's disease dementia and is in Phase 2/3. Raised EUR 51M Series B in 2026.
Forbion
Naarden, Netherlands · Venture CapitalForbion is a leading European life sciences venture capital firm headquartered in Naarden, Netherlands, managing approximately €5 billion across multiple fund strategies covering all stages of biopharmaceutical drug development. The firm has a team of over 30 investment professionals and a track record of more than 130 investments across 11 funds, resulting in numerous approved therapies and successful public exits. Its newest funds—Forbion Growth Opportunities III (€1.2 billion) and Forbion Ventures VII (€890 million)—represent its largest capital raise to date.
Fountain Healthcare Partners
Dublin, Ireland · AcceleratorFountain Healthcare Partners is Ireland's largest dedicated life-sciences venture firm, founded in 2008 as a spin-out from Elan Corporation's investment group. Headquartered in Dublin with an office in New York, it was established by Manus Rogan, Aidan King, Ena Prosser and Justin Lynch, and manages more than €425M across four funds. The firm invests at seed and early stage across specialty pharma, biopharmaceuticals, medical devices and diagnostics — primarily in Europe with selective US positions — typically leading or co-leading syndicates with €0.5–7M initial cheques and active follow-on. Fund III closed at €125M in 2020 with anchor commitments from the European Investment Fund, the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund, AIB and Japan's Kyowa Kirin, and Fund IV is now active. The portfolio has produced landmark exits including Inflazome (acquired by Roche for €380M upfront, 2020), KaNDy Therapeutics (Bayer, $425M upfront, 2020), Syndesi Therapeutics (AbbVie, 2022), Calypso Biotech (Novartis, 2024) and Vivasure Medical (Haemonetics, 2026). Active holdings include the Irish medtechs Neuromod Devices and Neurent Medical, Germany's Exciva and Belgium's Dualyx.
Genesis 2026
London, United Kingdom · EventThe 26th edition of One Nucleus's flagship London life-science networking conference, themed around maximising returns from life-science innovation. For a biotech or life-science founder it is a focused day of partnering and investor networking within the UK life-sciences cluster.
Granatus Ventures
Yerevan, Armenia · Venture CapitalFounded in 2013 by Manuk Hergnyan, Pierre Hennes, and Yervand Sarkisyan, Granatus Ventures is a Yerevan-headquartered deep-tech VC with ~$40M AUM and offices also in London and Singapore. The firm focuses on university spinouts across AI, biotech, advanced computing, robotics, industrial automation, and climate tech, sourcing deals from Oxford, Cambridge, and Berkeley. Notable portfolio companies include BlueQubit (quantum software), Gecko Robotics (industrial inspection unicorn), and Zoundream (infant cry analysis). As of 2025 the fund remains actively deploying capital across its global deep-tech mandate.
Hanson Wade
Berlin, Germany · Event OrganisatorOrganizer of specialized life-science summits including the mRNA-Based Therapeutics Summit Europe series. Hanson Wade has been producing senior-level scientific conferences since 2008, convening researchers, pharma executives, and biotech founders for deep technical discussions on drug discovery, gene therapy, and emerging therapeutic platforms.
Hard2beat VC
Wroclaw, Poland · Venture CapitalHard2beat is a Wrocław-based pre-seed and seed venture fund founded in 2024 by Maciej Zawadziński — a serial entrepreneur with three exits including Piwik PRO (sold to Kirk Kapital in 2023) — alongside Maciej Frankowicz and Konrad Trzyna, who previously ran Shape VC's BRIdge Alpha programme. The fund closed at 84M PLN (~€20M), with PFR Ventures providing 56.5M PLN under the FENG programme and 30 private investors contributing the rest. Hard2beat backs Polish deep-tech founders from pre-revenue to early revenue with 1–3M PLN initial cheques and follow-on up to 8M PLN, targeting teams with a genuine technical moat in cybersecurity, medtech, biotech, devtools, dual-use/defence, gamedev, robotics and spacetech — explicitly avoiding B2C and shallow AI. By mid-2026 it had made seven investments including the open-source cybersecurity platform Defguard, autonomous UAV startup DefendEye, Alzheimer's wearable developer Neuromedical, neuroprotection biotech Pikralida, Unreal Engine AI copilot Ludus AI, and devtools company Graftcode (€2.1M, led with DigitalOcean Ventures, 2026).
Health Revolution Congress 2026
Barcelona, Spain · EventBilled as Southern Europe's largest digital health congress, drawing 3,000+ attendees and around 450 companies to the Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau. For healthtech founders it is a concentrated dealmaking venue with keynote stages, a startup exhibition, and direct access to hospitals, pharma, and investors active in digital health.
Hemab Therapeutics
Copenhagen, Denmark · StartupHemab is a clinical-stage biotech company developing prophylactic therapies for severe bleeding and thrombotic disorders. Founded by biotech operators with Novo Nordisk roots, the company engineers antibody-based treatments aimed at preventing episodes before they occur in underserved rare-disease populations.
Horizon Europe Info Day - Cluster 1 Health 2026
Online, Belgium · EventInformation day on funding opportunities for health-related projects under the Horizon Europe framework programme, specifically for Cluster 1 (Health). Provides guidance for applicants and consortia.
in-cosmetics Global 2026
Paris, France · EventFlagship global personal care ingredients trade fair at Paris Porte de Versailles with 10,000+ formulators and brand buyers and 700+ exhibitors. Free with pre-registration or about EUR 100 on-site. Ideal for biotech, green chemistry, and sustainable cosmetics startups seeking ingredient adoption and multinational brand partnerships.
Innovafeed
Paris, France · StartupProduces sustainable insect-based ingredients from the Black Soldier Fly for aquaculture, pet food and plant nutrition. Founded in 2016, it has produced over 15,000 tonnes of protein and oil and secured €51M to scale commercial growth.
Inspirefest 2026
Dublin, Ireland · EventIreland's international sci-tech festival organized by Silicon Republic, known for its strong focus on diversity and inclusion in tech. Attracts 3,000+ attendees with programming across AI, biotech, space, and social innovation. Features a fringe festival with arts and culture alongside the main conference.
Inveready
Barcelona, Spain · AcceleratorFounded in 2008, Inveready is a Barcelona-based multi-strategy investment group managing over EUR 200M across ten fund vehicles spanning venture capital, venture debt, and corporate finance. The firm invests at seed through growth in software, biotech, and fintech, with typical early-stage tickets of EUR 0.5-3M. Notable portfolio companies include Kantox (acquired by BNP Paribas), Vlex, and Aelix Therapeutics. Inveready is one of Spain's most prolific investors with 100+ portfolio companies.
Jean-Philippe Vert
Paris, France · PersonCo-founder and Chief R&D Officer of Bioptimus, building foundation models for biology. A leading machine-learning researcher, he was previously a research lead at Google Brain and Owkin and a professor at Mines ParisTech.
Jurgi Camblong
Lausanne, Switzerland · PersonCo-founder and CEO of SOPHiA GENETICS, the Lausanne-based clinical AI company he co-founded in 2011 as an EPFL spin-out. Camblong led SOPHiA GENETICS for over a decade from a university genomics project to a Nasdaq IPO in July 2021, raising $228M and building a federated clinical AI network used by over 780 healthcare institutions in 70 countries for genomic analysis in oncology and rare disease diagnostics.
Kerecis
Isafjordur, Iceland · StartupKerecis is an Icelandic biotech and medical technology company known for developing wound-healing products derived from fish skin. Its work is notable because it turns a locally abundant natural material into a clinically relevant regenerative scaffold used in difficult wound-care cases, including burns, trauma, and chronic ulcers. The biological rationale and manufacturing approach set it apart from software-led health companies: this is a deep life-science and materials business built around research, regulatory rigor, and medical adoption. In the European ecosystem, Kerecis is a useful example of how world-class biotech can emerge from a small geography when the product is grounded in differentiated science and clear clinical utility. It expands the directory's health coverage into advanced materials and tissue regeneration, complementing digital health and wearable platforms without overlapping with them. For the broader startup map, Kerecis shows that high-impact European innovation is not limited to apps or infrastructure, but also includes biologically sophisticated products with global medical significance.
life - The Biomedical Convention 2026
Heidelberg, Germany · EventOne-day life sciences convention in Heidelberg featuring biotech keynotes, startup pitch competitions, and investor panels. Organized by BioRN, the Rhine-Neckar biotech cluster, and attended by pharma executives, academic researchers, and VCs. Strong entry point for early-stage biotech and medtech founders seeking funding and strategic partnerships.
Lionel Mora
Paris, France · PersonCo-founder and CEO of Neoplants, bio-engineering houseplants to capture indoor air pollutants. A former Google strategist, he co-founded the deep-tech startup with biologist Patrick Torbey.
Longenesis
Riga, Latvia · StartupLongenesis is a Riga-based digital health company founded in 2017 that builds platforms connecting pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, and patients to accelerate biomedical research. Its three core products — Curator, Themis, and Engage — enable privacy-preserving patient cohort discovery, consent management, and real-world evidence generation. The company has positively impacted over 850,000 patients across the EU and MENA, holds partnerships with Medtronic and Novartis, and has raised over €1 million in seed funding. It won second place at the EIT Health Catapult programme and earned an AWS Industry Award in 2023.
Manus Rogan
Dublin, Ireland · PersonManaging Partner and co-founder of Fountain Healthcare Partners, Ireland's largest dedicated life-sciences fund, which he established in 2008 after a career at Elan and GlaxoSmithKline. He has led biotech investments behind exits including Inflazome (Roche) and Calypso Biotech (Novartis).
Marianne Hyltoft
Kongens Lyngby, Denmark · PersonFounder and Managing Partner of PSV Hafnium, the Nordic deep-tech fund she co-launched in 2024. She focuses on industrial biotech, energy, robotics and future-of-compute spinouts, helping technical founders commercialise research with patient venture capital.
Melanos Care
Warsaw, Poland · StartupBiotech skincare startup developing bio-identical melanin from stem-cell-based processes to improve UV protection and skin health. The company focuses on long-duration photoprotection and alternatives to conventional sunscreen formulations.
Mewery
Brno, Czech Republic · StartupMewery is a food-tech and biotech startup cultivating pork meat using microalgae-based processes. The hybrid approach reduces the cost and complexity of lab-grown meat by combining cell cultivation with plant inputs. This positions the company to deliver cultured meat products faster and at lower price points than traditional cellular agriculture methods. By 2026, Mewery is a notable Central European pioneer in sustainable protein.
MicroHarvest
Hamburg, Germany · StartupMicroHarvest produces microbial protein using agricultural side streams and a rapid fermentation process designed to deliver sustainable protein ingredients in around 24 hours. The company reported over USD 10.2M in venture funding from investors such as Astanor, Happiness Capital, Simon Capital, and FoodLabs, and received a EUR 5.5M German government grant in February 2026 for an industrial-scale Leuna plant expected to produce about 15,000 tonnes of protein annually.
Mosa Meat
Maastricht, Netherlands · StartupMosa Meat is a Maastricht-based food-technology company founded in 2016 by the team behind the world's first cultured hamburger, presented in 2013. It develops cultivated (lab-grown) beef produced from animal cells rather than slaughtered livestock, aiming to make real meat with a far smaller environmental footprint as it works toward regulatory approval and scale-up.
mRNA-Based Therapeutics Summit Europe 2026
Berlin, Germany · EventDedicated summit in Berlin for mRNA-based therapeutics, bringing together pharma executives, biotech researchers, and clinical development leaders. Covers R&D breakthroughs, manufacturing scale-up, and regulatory pathways for mRNA technologies in Europe. Relevant for biotech startups working on next-generation mRNA platforms and delivery systems.
MultiplexDX
Bratislava, Slovakia · StartupMultiplexDX focuses on precision cancer diagnostics, developing visualized diagnostic tests aimed at reducing misdiagnosis in oncology. Its work is particularly focused on breast cancer and improving clinical decision confidence. By 2026, the company is a high-impact biotech research player in the Slovak ecosystem with expanding clinical collaborations.
Neoplants
Paris, France · StartupNeoplants is one of Europe's most consumer-friendly deep-tech startups, known for engineering "plants with a purpose." Its flagship product, Neo P1, is a golden pothos that has been genetically modified to actively metabolize volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as formaldehyde and benzene—pollutants common in homes due to paint, furniture, and cleaning products. Rather than simply filtering air passively, the plant converts toxins into harmless sugars and amino acids, turning living organisms into functional indoor air purifiers. The company began commercial sales in the United States, where GMO consumer regulations are more permissive, but 2026 marks a strategic pivot back to Europe. Neoplants is positioning itself to launch in the UK and select EU markets as the New Genomic Techniques (NGT) framework evolves. This regulatory shift is crucial: it could unlock a path for consumer biotech products to be sold in Europe at scale. Neoplants is actively engaging with regulators and policymakers to ensure its products meet safety and transparency standards, framing its technology as a climate and public-health benefit rather than a controversial GMO niche. Neoplants is also a serious biotech company under the consumer-friendly brand. It operates a 12,000-square-foot R&D facility in Saint-Ouen, Paris, with capabilities closer to a pharma lab than a greenhouse. The 2026 R&D pipeline includes plants engineered to capture CO2 at orders-of-magnitude higher rates than typical trees, targeting corporate offices and commercial spaces where sustainability investments must be visible and measurable. That positions Neoplants for a dual-market strategy: consumer air purification today, B2B climate infrastructure tomorrow. The company's ecosystem roots are strong. The founders, Lionel Mora and Patrick Torbey, met at Entrepreneur First in Paris, and Neoplants was an early resident at Station F. It also benefited from the Wilco healthcare and biotech accelerator. Its investors reflect the blend of deep-tech and consumer focus: True Ventures led the seed, Heartcore Capital and Collaborative Fund support the consumer angle, and angels such as Niklas Zennstrom and Xavier Niel provide strategic visibility. In 2026, Neoplants represents a "solarpunk" vision of European tech—advanced biology that is both functional and approachable, turning climate and health solutions into products people can live with.
Neurent Medical
Galway, Ireland · StartupNeurent Medical is a Galway-based medtech company developing the NEUROMARK device, which uses proprietary Impedance Controlled Radiofrequency technology to target overactive posterior nasal nerves and treat chronic rhinitis — a condition affecting over 500 million people globally. Founded in 2015, the company closed an oversubscribed €62.5 million Series C in February 2026, led by MVM Partners with participation from Sofinnova Partners, EQT Life Sciences, Atlantic Bridge, and Enterprise Ireland, bringing total funding to over €100 million.
New Dawn Bio
Wageningen, Netherlands · StartupGrows wood from tree stem cells in bioreactors without logging, producing material far faster than conventional forestry. Founded in 2023 on Wageningen Campus, it raised an oversubscribed €2.1M pre-seed to advance cultured-wood technology.
Nightingale Health
Helsinki, Finland · StartupNightingale Health is the global leader in NMR-based metabolomics, quantifying 250 blood biomarkers from a single sample to enable large-scale disease risk detection and prevention. Founded in Helsinki, it completed the analysis of all 500,000 UK Biobank samples, creating the world's largest blood biomarker database. Listed on Nasdaq Helsinki Main Market since March 2025, the company is deploying its technology into Finnish public healthcare in 2026 through wellbeing services counties. It also partnered with Alamar Biosciences to expand into brain health proteomics.
Nordic Innovation Fair 2026 (September 2026)
Copenhagen, Denmark · EventA two-day Nordic deep-tech and research-commercialisation matchmaking fair at Industriens Hus in Copenhagen under the 2026 theme of defence, resilience and safety. Tracks cover quantum, AI and digital, greentech and food, biotech and pharma, and medtech and diagnostics, connecting startups, researchers and industry across the Nordics.
Novo Holdings
Hellerup, Denmark · Venture CapitalNovo Holdings is the investment arm of the Novo Nordisk Foundation and the largest life science investor in Denmark. It backs biotech, medtech, and health innovation across seed, venture, and growth stages while also managing the foundation's long term ownership in Novo Nordisk and Novozymes. The firm provides patient capital, deep scientific expertise, and global networks for founders building therapies, diagnostics, and industrial biotech solutions. Novo Holdings is a cornerstone of the Danish life science ecosystem.
Ochre Bio
Oxford, United Kingdom · StartupOchre Bio is an Oxford-based biotech startup combining computational genomics, machine learning, and RNA therapeutics to develop treatments for chronic liver diseases. Founded in 2019, the company uses human donor livers and large-scale transcriptomic data to identify novel drug targets, then designs RNA-based therapies to address conditions such as NASH and liver fibrosis. Ochre Bio has raised significant venture funding and works with transplant centers to validate its candidates in perfused human organs.
Owkin
Paris, France · StartupOwkin is a Paris-based AI biotech founded in 2016 that applies machine learning and federated learning across hospital and pharmaceutical datasets to discover drug targets, develop diagnostics and de-risk clinical trials. It partners with pharmaceutical companies including Sanofi and Bristol Myers Squibb, reached unicorn status, and has more recently launched agentic AI tools for biopharma research.
Panakès Partners
Milan, Italy · AcceleratorFounded in 2015, Panakes Partners is a Milan-based healthcare VC investing EUR 1-8M at Series A and B in medical devices, diagnostics, digital health, and biotech across Europe. The firm manages over EUR 100M and focuses on companies with clear clinical evidence and regulatory pathways. Portfolio includes MMI (surgical robotics, IPO on Euronext), Novavido, and Kither Biotech. The team of medtech executives and clinicians provides hands-on support in clinical trials, CE marking, and commercialization.
Pikralida
Warsaw, Poland · StartupBiotech drug-discovery company developing PKL-021, a small-molecule MMP inhibitor program for acute neuroprotection after stroke and traumatic brain injury, with additional applications in field-ready snakebite treatment.
Piotr Romanowski
Warsaw, Poland · Angel InvestorBusiness Angel of the Year 2021 and former PwC partner, Piotr combines corporate finance expertise with deep-technology investing. He focuses on high-potential international projects, especially biotech and complex fintech products. His portfolio includes early-stage investments in biotechnology initiatives and specialized fintech tooling.
Pomerangels
Szczecin, Poland · Venture CapitalA venture fund + angel network based in Szczecin, Pomerangels invests alongside business angels and syndicates in post-revenue companies. With a network of 100+ angels, they co-invest up to €4M in innovative SMEs across ICT, autonomous tech, biotech, etc. Notable focus: companies that already have strong angel syndicates; Pomerangels adds capital on top of angel rounds to scale these ventures.
PORT for Health: Oncology 2026
Wroclaw, Poland · EventInternational healthtech and biotech conference hosted by Łukasiewicz – PORT, focused on cancer research, diagnostics, and therapy. Relevant for healthtech and biotech founders and researchers seeking R&D partners, clinical collaborators, and exposure to the Łukasiewicz innovation network.
Rodolphe Jenatton
Paris, France · PersonCo-founder of Bioptimus and a machine-learning scientist who previously worked at Google DeepMind and Amazon on large-scale models, now applied to biological foundation models.
SagaNatura
Hafnarfjörður, Iceland · StartupSagaNatura is a Hafnarfjörður-based Icelandic biotech company producing premium natural ingredients from Iceland's pristine environment, including high-purity natural astaxanthin from microalgae and wild-grown organic Angelica Archangelica. The company traces its roots to SagaMedica (founded 2000) and KeyNatura (founded 2014), which merged to form the current entity. SagaNatura supplies nutraceutical ingredients to markets in North America and Asia-Pacific, and operates a consumer brand, KeyNatura, sold direct-to-consumer and through distributors worldwide. The company was tracking EUR 23 million in annual sales by 2025 and had been eyeing a potential IPO.
Seroba Life Sciences
Dublin, Ireland · AcceleratorSeroba Life Sciences is a Dublin-based healthcare venture capital firm founded in 2002, investing in biotech, medical devices, and diagnostics across Europe with a focus on companies emerging from strong clinical and scientific foundations. The firm manages over EUR 300M and typically invests EUR 2-10M at Series A and B, taking board seats and providing strategic guidance on regulatory strategy and commercialization. Seroba has backed companies including Mainstay Medical, Aerogen, and Fire1, leveraging Ireland's deep life sciences talent pool and its proximity to major pharma and medtech multinationals headquartered in the country.
Solar Foods
Helsinki, Finland · StartupSolar Foods produces Solein, a single-cell protein made via gas fermentation using CO2, hydrogen and electricity — entirely decoupled from agriculture. Founded in 2017 as a VTT and LUT University spin-off, the company opened the world's first commercial-scale air-protein facility in Vantaa in 2024. In 2026 it is advancing its EFSA novel food approval and finalising the investment decision for Factory 02 in Lappeenranta, which will scale annual capacity from 160 to 6,400 tonnes. Fortum is a key investor and strategic partner for district heating integration.
Sophia Genetics
Lausanne, Switzerland · StartupSOPHiA GENETICS is a Lausanne-based health-tech company founded in 2011 by Jurgi Camblong and Pierre Hutter as an EPFL spin-out. The company built a clinical AI platform — SOPHiA DDM — that enables hospital and laboratory networks to decode genomic data for oncology, rare disease, and pharmacogenomics applications. Its platform standardises and accelerates genomic analysis across a federated network of more than 780 healthcare institutions in 70 countries, turning each new clinical dataset into a contribution to a collectively smarter system. SOPHiA GENETICS listed on Nasdaq in July 2021, raising $228M, and is backed by Salesforce Ventures and Generation Investment Management. The company represents the EPFL ecosystem's capacity to produce globally significant clinical technology at scale.
Spinoff Europa Conference 2026
Sofia, Bulgaria · EventThe 5th edition of Southeast Europe's flagship deep-tech and science-to-business conference, gathering 400+ speakers and around 40 breakthrough spinoff teams. It pairs university and research-spinoff founders with investors, clusters, and policymakers — strongly relevant for science-based founders raising early capital.
Spore.Bio
Paris, France · StartupSpore.Bio is a Paris-based biotech developing AI-driven microbiology testing for the food, beverage, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries. Its technology uses spectroscopic analysis combined with machine learning to detect, quantify and identify micro-organisms directly from a sample without traditional culturing, enrichment or staining, reducing testing time from days to minutes. The approach is intended to let manufacturers identify contamination risks quickly on or near the production line. The company raised a $23M Series A in February 2025 led by Singular, building on an earlier pre-seed round, and in January 2026 announced multi-million funding from the Google.org Fund for AI in Science.
Starfish Bioscience
Bordeaux, France · StartupRestores soil health through AI-powered DNA sequencing of soil microbiomes, having built the first bacterial genome atlas for Bordeaux vineyard soils. Develops non-GMO, bacteria-based biosolutions to improve crop resilience in a changing climate.
Startup Braga
Braga, Portugal · AcceleratorInnovation hub and accelerator supported by Microsoft, nurturing deep-tech startups in biotech, nanotech, and digital sectors. Provides acceleration, access to University of Minho labs, and corporate partners; backed 120+ companies. Scope: Regional (Northern Portugal).
Swiss Nordic Bio 2026
Zurich, Switzerland · EventA high-level partnering and investor conference connecting life-science innovators, investors, and industry across Switzerland, Austria, and the Nordics. For a biotech or healthtech founder it provides structured 1-to-1 partnering meetings with investors and pharma in a focused single-day format.
Symbion
Copenhagen, Denmark · IncubatorSymbion is one of Denmark's oldest science parks and incubators, founded to support research driven startups in tech and life science. It provides office space, labs, business services, and community programs for hundreds of early stage companies, and it hosts accelerators and investor events on site. Symbion is located in Copenhagen's innovation district and acts as a bridge between universities, corporates, and founders. Many Danish startups begin their journey inside the Symbion campus.
Tech Open Air (TOA) 2026
Berlin, Germany · EventLarge interdisciplinary tech festival at Funkhaus Berlin combining AI, synthetic biology, Web3, and health tech with music, art, and science programming. Includes startup visibility opportunities and a headline startup pitch competition.
Turbine
Budapest, Hungary · StartupTurbine is a Budapest-based biotech company using AI-powered simulated cell technology to accelerate drug discovery and identify novel cancer treatment combinations. The platform creates virtual cell models that simulate how cancer cells respond to different drug interventions, helping pharmaceutical companies identify promising candidates faster and with fewer costly wet-lab experiments. Turbine has partnered with major pharma companies and raised significant funding to expand its simulated biology platform. The company is a standout example of deep-tech life sciences innovation emerging from Hungary and one of the most technically ambitious AI-for-drug-discovery startups in Central Europe.
UtrechtInc
Utrecht, Netherlands · IncubatorFounded 2009. University-affiliated incubator supporting ICT and biotech startups with a 4-month validation program, follow-on acceleration, labs access, and investor network. Supported 200+ startups including SnappCar. Scope: Regional (Utrecht).
Voima Ventures
Helsinki, Finland · Venture CapitalVoima Ventures was founded in 2019 in Helsinki by Inka Mero, a serial entrepreneur and investor, and specialises exclusively in science-based deep tech spin-outs from universities and research institutions across the Nordics and Baltics. The firm raised its third fund of €90 million in 2023, bringing total assets above €100 million, and invests €200,000–€3 million at the earliest stages in biotech, quantum, AI, energy, climate, and life sciences. Over 70% of its 51 portfolio companies originate directly from academic labs, including Solar Foods. Voima is one of the few female-founded and female-led VC funds in the Nordics.
World ADC London 2026
London, United Kingdom · EventFlagship antibody-drug conjugate summit in London bringing together biopharma leaders, biotech investors, and clinical researchers. Covers next-generation ADC design, payload innovation, and clinical trial data from leading oncology programs. Valuable for biotech startups developing targeted therapies and seeking licensing or co-development partnerships.