Biotech
From Lab to Manufacturing: 10 Biotech Startups to Watch
DealBio tracks early-stage biotech startups across Europe and North America. These ten are developing the software, research tools and production methods that connect discoveries with usable laboratory and manufacturing processes.
- Biomanufacturing
- Bioprocessing
- Drug Discovery
- Laboratory Automation
- Research Tools
DealBio tracks early-stage biotech startups across Europe and North America. These ten are developing the software, research tools and production methods that connect discoveries with usable laboratory and manufacturing processes.
Turning a promising biological result into a product requires more than discovering a molecule or observing a cell response. Research teams need reliable data, repeatable experimental conditions and instruments that can produce consistent results. Further along, developers need purification and manufacturing processes capable of making complex biologic medicines at useful scale.biologic medicines
The startups in this selection work at different points along that path. Some make DNA, protein, RNA and single-cell research easier to perform or interpret. Others improve the handling of cells, samples and liquids in laboratory workflows. At the production end, new methods for antibody purification and continuous bioprocessing address how therapies can be made efficiently. Together, these approaches show how technical advances become more valuable when they can be used repeatedly beyond the originating laboratory.
At a Glance
- Amped PCRUnited Kingdom2020Research-use PCR reagents and DNA testing workflows
- Aptila BiotechGermany2024Protein analysis software for research laboratories
- ARTIC TechnologiesNetherlands2024More physiologically relevant cell culture hardware
- Nygen AnalyticsSweden2022Single-cell genomics interpretation and AI annotation
- Clepio BiotechItaly2024Three-dimensional tissue imaging and analysis
- Ascent RNAUnited Kingdom2025RNA research kits and specialist analysis services
- AssureDropUnited Kingdom2024Low-volume screening for three-dimensional cell models
- AventixSweden2024Volume-measurement quality control for automated labs
- AromAbNetherlands—Column-free antibody purification technology
- Ardent BiopharmaNetherlands2025Continuous production of biosimilar antibodies
Supplying PCR reagents for microbial, food and environmental DNA testing
- Country
United Kingdom- Founded
- 2020
- Sector
- Biotech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
Why Amped PCR stands out
Amped PCR has moved beyond laboratory formulation into external research use. RUSH's Genomics & Microbiome Core uses its mastermixes for sequencing workflows and bespoke, own-label supply, providing a concrete example of a research customer adopting its products. The startup has also reported a four-pathogen food-testing panel capable of detecting fewer than ten target molecules per pathogen.
A £350,000 equity investment from the Development Bank of Wales, alongside £185,000 from SFC Capital announced in 2024, supported its growth. Distribution through ZAGENO offers another route into academic and biotech laboratory procurement, while founder Ben Davis brings prior experience developing rapid PCR formulations.
What Amped PCR is building
Amped PCR supplies ready-to-use polymerase chain reaction (PCR) reagents that help laboratories detect and amplify small quantities of microbial DNA. Its formulations support testing in food, environmental and microbiome samples, including assays that look for several targets at once.
Products designed for ambient shipping and own-label supply make these reagents practical for research teams and assay developers that need consistent materials across repeated tests. Alongside reagent sales, the startup has developed PurifAI Atlas, a laboratory data-management dashboard.
Identifying and quantifying proteins from mass-spectrometry data
- Country
Germany- Founded
- 2024
- Sector
- Biotech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
- Justus Grossmann
- Clara Correia-Melo
- Vadim Demichev
Why Aptila Biotech stands out
Aptila Biotech brings a well-established academic software foundation into commercial proteomics. Its DIA-NN technology grew from the work of co-founder Vadim Demichev at Charité, and Ascenion helped arrange a licence with the institution. The university connection has been translated into a defined enterprise product and route to customers.
Thermo Fisher Scientific acts as a worldwide reseller for DIA-NN Enterprise. Indivumed has integrated DIA-NN into its oncology target-discovery work, while a collaboration with IonOpticks supports method optimisation. The combination of specialised software and industry distribution connects advanced protein analysis to routine research demand.
What Aptila Biotech is building
Aptila Biotech develops DIA-NN software to identify and quantify proteins in mass-spectrometry datasets. In these experiments, an instrument measures molecules in complex samples, while computational analysis determines which proteins are present and in what abundance.
The platform combines automated processing, statistical evaluation and visual interpretation for pharmaceutical, biotechnology and academic teams. By making complex datasets easier to analyse, it supports research ranging from biomarker discovery to drug-target investigation.
Adding fluid flow to cell culture plates for preclinical drug testing
- Country
Netherlands- Founded
- 2024
- Sector
- Biotech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
- Laure van der Sanden
- Hossein Eslami Amirabadi
- Jaap den Toonder
Why ARTIC Technologies stands out
ARTIC Technologies emerged from Eindhoven University of Technology research and holds an exclusive licence covering magnetic fluid-control technology. Its MACplate approach brings controlled flow into formats researchers already recognise, linking microfluidic advances with familiar cell-culture methods.
Pilot laboratories have tested applications in gut permeability and immuno-oncology. Early kidney-organoid experiments with Erasmus MC provided encouraging indications for tissue viability and differentiation, while a separate pilot at ibidi demonstrated physiological flow. These are practical development milestones for laboratory hardware intended to fit established research workflows.
What ARTIC Technologies is building
ARTIC Technologies is developing MACplate, a cell-culture plate that circulates liquid using magnetically driven microscopic hairs. Cells in the body experience fluid movement; recreating aspects of that environment can improve how laboratory models reflect living tissue.
The system is designed to work with standard Transwell culture supports and laboratory automation, giving research teams a way to add flow without a separate pump-and-tubing system. Applications include preclinical testing and studies of tissue barriers.
Analyzing single-cell genomics data and identifying cell types with AI
- Country
Sweden- Founded
- 2022
- Sector
- Biotech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
- Parashar Dhapola
- Göran Karlsson
Why Nygen Analytics stands out
Nygen Analytics has coupled computational biology expertise with a defined research service. Its browser-based ScarfWeb platform and CyteType annotation tool tackle the growing volume of single-cell datasets produced by academic and drug-discovery laboratories.
The startup received a SEK 1 million Vinnova grant in 2025 for AI-driven models in cancer immunotherapy and collaborated with VLP Therapeutics on research into immune-cell dynamics. Co-founder Parashar Dhapola developed the foundations of ScarfWeb during computational biology research at Lund University, connecting the software to specialist scientific experience.
What Nygen Analytics is building
Nygen Analytics helps researchers organise, explore and interpret single-cell genomics data. These experiments measure genetic activity in individual cells, allowing teams to distinguish cell populations and study how their behaviour changes.
ScarfWeb makes analysis available through a browser, while CyteType suggests cell identities with supporting markers and confidence information. The tools can shorten the journey from raw sequencing data to interpretable research findings.
Mapping tissue samples in three dimensions for biological research
- Country
Italy- Founded
- 2024
- Sector
- Biotech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
- Ludovico Silvestri
- Taiana Deodato
- Claudia Capitini
- Alessandra Franceschini
Why Clepio Biotech stands out
Clepio Biotech is a University of Florence spinout bringing advanced tissue imaging toward a repeatable research service. It coordinates the EU-backed 3DPATH project, with more than €1.39 million in net EU contribution allocated under an EIC Transition grant.
The project has generated three-dimensional image data using its IGEA-3DS prototype, documented at technology readiness level five in 2026. Collaboration with ACMIT and the University of Bern supports scanner development and preparation for broader research use. Co-founder Ludovico Silvestri adds academic expertise in light-sheet microscopy.
What Clepio Biotech is building
Clepio Biotech maps biological tissue in three dimensions. Its workflow prepares and labels samples, captures high-resolution light-sheet microscopy images and measures features such as cells, biomarkers and blood vessels.
Instead of studying only thin tissue sections, research teams can examine structures in their wider spatial context. Clepio offers sample-processing and quantitative imaging services designed to make this form of tissue analysis more accessible to biological and translational researchers.
Developing laboratory kits and research services to study RNA biology
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Founded
- 2025
- Sector
- Biotech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
Why Ascent RNA stands out
Ascent RNA is commercialising methods for studying RNA and RNA-binding proteins, a specialised area relevant to cellular biology and neurological disease. Founder Chris Sibley brings more than a decade of research into RNA-binding proteins and their role in disease.
The team participated in Kainos and Pioneer Group accelerator programmes and received support through the University of Edinburgh's Bayes Centre Venture Builder Incubator. Co-founder Nicola Broughton contributes previous experience establishing an intellectual-property commercialisation business, complementing the scientific foundation.
What Ascent RNA is building
Ascent RNA develops laboratory kits and contract research services to help scientists examine RNA molecules and the proteins that interact with them. RNA carries and regulates information used by cells, making its behaviour central to biological research.
The startup aims to give academic and industrial laboratories accessible methods for identifying molecular targets and analysing RNA-protein interactions, extending specialised techniques beyond the original research teams.
Developing pipette-free tools to screen 3D cell models in multiwell plates
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Founded
- 2024
- Sector
- Biotech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
- Ankur Chaurasia
- Magaly Verduzco
Why AssureDrop stands out
AssureDrop has taken its microfluidics concept into an external laboratory, where a first-generation platform successfully micro-dispensed cells. The startup has also reported letters of intent from academic and industry groups, reflecting interest in more efficient approaches to screening scarce biological samples.
Selection for Discovery Park's oncology-focused Discovery Spark cohort in 2025 added commercial-development support. Co-founder Ankur Chaurasia previously researched microfluidics at King's College London, contributing technical experience directly relevant to the platform.
What AssureDrop is building
AssureDrop is developing a pipette-free system for testing three-dimensional cell models, including organoids, in tiny droplets inside multiwell plates. Organoids are laboratory-grown cell structures that reproduce selected features of real tissue.
By dispensing small amounts of material accurately and integrating into familiar screening formats, the approach is designed to help drug-discovery teams test more conditions using limited patient-derived samples.
08
Aventix
Measuring liquid volumes in lab plates to check dispensing accuracy
- Country
- Sweden
- Founded
- 2024
- Sector
- Biotech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
- Erik Gatenholm
- Hector Martinez
Why Aventix stands out
Aventix raised €1.2 million in pre-seed financing in September 2026, co-led by Voima Ventures and Kost Capital. Its laboratory measurement system has also undergone a VTT MIKES evaluation of low-volume dispensing in high-density microplates, providing a technical foundation for its quality-control application.
The startup has established distribution partnerships in Benelux with Wilten Instrumenten and in Spain and Portugal with Eyown Technologies. Co-founders Erik Gatenholm and Hector Martinez previously built CELLINK, later part of BICO Group, giving the team experience taking laboratory technologies into commercial markets.
What Aventix is building
Aventix offers Scarlett 01, a benchtop instrument that measures liquid volume in microplates without touching the samples. Accurate dispensing matters because small variations in volumes can change experimental concentrations and influence screening results.
Its SensVue software maps the measurements and exports structured records, helping laboratories check liquid-handling performance, troubleshoot workflows and document quality across automated experiments.
09
AromAb
Developing column-free antibody purification for biologic drug manufacturing
- Country
- Netherlands
- Founded
- —
- Sector
- Biotech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
Why AromAb stands out
AromAb is applying antibody-purification research to an important manufacturing process. Co-founder Guy Patchornik invented its APPC approach and leads the Antibody Purification Laboratory at Ariel University, providing a direct connection between the underlying technique and the development team.
The startup joined the unlock Incubation Program in March 2026. Its focus on removing the conventional purification column is commercially relevant because downstream purification is a major part of producing antibody-based medicines.
What AromAb is building
AromAb is developing APPC, a column-free purification method intended to recover antibodies and related proteins under neutral-pH conditions. The technology is being designed for biologic medicines including IgG, IgA and IgM antibodies and Fc-fusion proteins.
By developing a different way to capture and purify these molecules, AromAb aims to simplify biologic manufacturing and broaden compatibility across antibody formats. Its next development objective is pilot-scale validation.
Developing lower-cost biosimilar antibodies using continuous manufacturing
- Country
- Netherlands
- Founded
- 2025
- Sector
- Biotech
- Funding stage
- Seed or earlier
- Founders
Why Ardent Biopharma stands out
Ardent Biopharma has signed an exclusive development partnership with simAbs covering two biosimilar antibodies and associated good manufacturing practice (GMP) activities. The partnership brings manufacturing expertise into the development of its biosimilar pipeline from an early stage.
Co-founder Ard Tijsterman previously helped build Xendo and Tarpon Biosystems, whose BioSMB technology platform was acquired by Pall in 2015. Menne Zaalberg brings operational experience from BiosanaPharma. Their background is relevant to a business where bioprocess design and execution are central to the offering.
What Ardent Biopharma is building
Ardent Biopharma is developing biosimilar antibodies for dermatology and oncology. Biosimilars are medicines developed to be highly similar to existing approved biologic treatments, with evidence required to show no clinically meaningful differences.
The startup is pursuing continuous manufacturing, in which production stages operate in a connected flow rather than separate batches. With partner simAbs, it aims to make antibody medicines more affordable through an efficient, scalable production approach.
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Investment perspective
Biotech infrastructure is becoming a more varied investment category than laboratory equipment alone. The ten startups show how value can be created by improving the reliability of individual research steps: measuring small volumes accurately, identifying the right molecules in complex datasets and maintaining more realistic conditions for living cells. Improvements at these points can make existing experiments more informative without requiring laboratories to replace entire workflows.
A second opportunity is the translation of specialist academic methods into products that other teams can use. Licences, working prototypes, external laboratory use and channel partnerships each represent different ways of moving beyond research conducted by the inventors themselves. For software, that can mean integration with widely used instruments or established research services. For hardware and biological reagents, it means repeatable performance and compatibility with established purchasing and laboratory practices.
At the manufacturing end, the opportunity centres on how biologic medicines are produced and purified. More efficient antibody processing and connected production methods could help reduce costs as complex medicines reach wider use. Across the full group, the underlying theme is practical reproducibility: the ability to turn advanced science into a tool, process or product that works consistently in other hands.
Methodology
DealBio selected these ten early-stage biotech startups for their work on technologies that support biological research, laboratory workflows, analytical services and manufacturing. The selection spans several stages of the research-to-production process, from molecular analysis and screening to antibody purification and biosimilar development.
DealBio builds its Startup Briefs using publicly available startup materials, ecosystem sources, market references and professional profiles.