Biotopeby VIB  grows investment portfolio with startups advancing food resilience and crop solutions

• Biotope selects three new biotech ventures for its seventh cohort, advancing innovations in mycoprotein production, microbial crop protection, and nature-inspired pest control.

• Each startup receives €250K in direct funding, €100K non-cash tailored support, and access to VIB's cutting-edge knowledge and expertise , and our world-class network of partners, industry experts, and seasoned mentors.

• The ventures will join biotope's 18-month incubation program, designed to bring early-stage biotech to seed-readiness through targeted business, regulatory, and scientific support.

biotopeby VIB, a leading biotech startup incubator and early-stage investor, has announced its seventh cohort of innovative startups. 

The selected teams were chosen following a competitive three-week basecamp, during which 10 early-stage ventures received hands-on support to refine their business models, validate scientific approaches, and assess market readiness. The three selected startups will each receive a €350K overall investment including tailored mentoring, and access to knowledge and expertise, and VIB's science excellence and its network of partners.

Founded in 2022 by the Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie (VIB), biotope helps early-stage biotech ventures advancing planetary health move from  proof of concept to seed-round readiness within 18 months. The program supports founders in building commercially viable, scientifically rigorous businesses with a clear route through regulation, IP, and scale-up, offering early investors a de-risked, investment-ready opportunity.

Three new companies from Brazil, the UK, and Belgium will join the program to advance food resilience and sustainable crop solutions, spanning microbial crop protection, nature-based pest control, and next-gen ingredient production.

Typcal (São Paulo, Brazil) – Growing mycoprotein using biomass fermentation. Typcal's proprietary fungi strains grow faster and on more diverse feedstocks than competing technologies, making them well-suited for scalable, sustainable protein & fibre production.

BugBiome (Cambridge, UK) – Unlocking the power of microbial ecosystems to protect crops. BugBiome identifies and applies naturally occurring microbes that deter pests while preserving beneficial insects, offering a novel approach to crop protection.

B-COS (Ghent, Belgium) – Developing nature inspired molecules (COS-molecules) that trigger plants' natural defenses. This university spin-off aims to replace chemical pesticides with bio-based products that are effective, safe, and regulatory-friendly.

The selected startups each offer high-impact solutions with strong commercial potential and a clear fit with biotope's support model. Reflecting biotope's focus on founder diversity, two of the three ventures are led by women.

Over the next 18 months, the teams will receive hands-on guidance from biotope's network of scientific, business, legal, and IP experts, along with access to VIB's research environment and deep expertise. They join a growing portfolio spanning 7 countries, with startups that have collectively raised nearly €30M in follow-on funding,  including AmphiStar, Zymofix, B'ZEOS, and PFx Biotech, which have all completed successful seed rounds.

Reflecting on the new cohort, Annick Verween, Head of biotope, said:  "This cohort reflects what biotope was built to do — support ambitious teams applying breakthrough science to solve urgent food and agriculture challenges. Each of these startups has the potential to reshape their field, and we're proud to help them lay the right foundations. It's a privilege to work alongside such brilliant minds and guide them through a program designed to turn bold ideas into high-impact companies."

The founders joining biotope's latest cohort share a common goal: to bring bold, science-driven solutions to market with real-world impact.

Paulo Ibri, CEO of São Paulo-based Typcal, said: "Joining biotope gives us the backing we need to scale faster and bring a more flexible mycoprotein platform to market. With access to top-tier scientific and business support, we're ready to accelerate our next phase of growth."

From Cambridge, Alicia Showering, co-founder of BugBiome, added: "biotope offers a unique environment to grow our science into a scalable crop protection business with real-world impact. We're looking forward to working closely with their expert team to build a solution that works in harmony with nature."

And Chiara Guidi, future CEO of Ghent-based B-COS, commented: "We're excited to shape B-COS into a company that makes sustainable, bio-based plant protection the norm, not the exception. The biotope program gives us a clear path from academic innovation to market-ready product."

The basecamp for Cohort 8 will take place in Belgium and online from December 2nd  to December 18th, 2025, with applications open from 15th September to 16th October 2025. Startups interested in applying can do so at: https://biotope-incubator.com/apply-now/