Two X start-ups receive EIC funding

Two start-ups, Inspek and Omini, from École polytechnique's entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem have been selected by the European Innovation Council (EIC) as part of the first stage of its Accelerator 2024 program, which began in March.

The companies were selected following a highly competitive process. Out of a total of 969 companies that submitted full proposals, 347 were interviewed by juries made up of experienced investors and entrepreneurs. The jury then selected the 68 best companies to receive funding.

The EIC Accelerator, which aims to help the most promising european startups and SMEs bring radical, disruptive innovations to market. It aims to act as a catalyst to attract private investors to high-potential companies.

Inspek and Omini are among the 13 French start-ups to benefit from the program, which totals 411 million euros in funding, including 165 million euros in grants and 245 million euros in equity.

Inspek, founded and managed by Jérôme Michon (X2011), aims to reduce costs and delays due to errors in chemical and biological processes through improved chemical detection. The understanding and optimization of processes, as well as automation, automatic error correction and the introduction of predictive maintenance, require sensors capable not only of operating in real time, but also of accurately reporting a maximum number of chemical and physical parameters, to best characterize the complex mechanisms at work.

To achieve this, InSpek is developing a system for chemical analysis by Raman spectroscopy using sensors on optical chips that are more sensitive, less expensive and smaller than current sensors. In particular, these sensors can be compatible with single-use technologies to reduce the risk of contamination.

Inspek, incubated at the X-Novation Center from 2022 to mid-2024, and winner of the X-Grant Silicon Valley 2022 award, was honored at the 24th I-Lab competition in 2022. The I-Lab competition was launched by the French Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation to fooster the entrepreneurial spirit, strengthen the creation of innovative technology companies, and better support the development of Deep tech start-ups.

Omini, co-founded by Joanne Kanaan (École normale supérieure - PSL) and Anna Shirinskaya (Laboratoire de Physique des Interfaces et des Couches Minces - CNRS/École polytechnique-Institut Polytechnique de Paris) develops portable screening and diagnostic devices to improve medical decision-making.

Medical biology examinations are essential to medical decision making. However, their results can take hours or even days, leading to a compromise between speed of diagnosis, urgency of treatment and accuracy of medical decision. To avoid this compromise, Omini is developing portable screening and diagnostic devices that enable immediate measurement of the biomarkers needed to make an informed medical decision. The start-up is developing a new generation of biosensors capable of quantitatively measuring various molecules in a liquid medium from a minimal sample volume.

Housed at the X-Novation Center in 2019-2020, Omini has been awarded the 2019 Gerondeau-Safran and X-Grant Silicon Valley 2020 prizes.