Icos Capital and Bühler bring startups and corporates together to accelerate biotech innovation

Icos Capital, a climate tech venture capital firm, convened its annual 'Accelerating Sustainability Summit' on 28 March 2025, at Bühler’s CUBIC Innovation Campus in Uzwil, Switzerland. The event, now in its third year at Bühler’s facility, drew investors, startups, and corporate leaders from across Europe and North America, with a shared focus on scaling sustainable innovations in the biotech sector, particularly those leveraging artificial intelligence.

Nityen Lal, Founding Partner at Icos Capital, opened the summit by highlighting the venture fund’s collaborative approach. “At Icos Capital, we aim to uncover and invest in cutting-edge innovations to drive sustainability forward,” said Lal. “By leveraging our collaborative venturing approach, we foster mutually beneficial partnerships between start-ups focused on food technology, chemical technology, decarbonization, and sustainability and established corporations, facilitating their growth and development.”

Founded in 2006, Icos Capital has supported early-stage companies that have gone on to lead their respective markets. This year, the summit spotlighted biotech and AI, areas that Lal said are becoming central to optimizing production and improving efficiency in food and chemical industries.

Bühler, a global solution provider for food, feed, and mobility industries, again hosted the event at its innovation campus. Chief Technology Officer Ian Roberts described the summit as an important opportunity for Bühler to expand its role in fostering innovation. “We’re delighted to play a role in strengthening this collaborative venturing approach to scale impactful innovation,” he said. “With established supply chains and market access, we believe that corporates in the room can play a crucial role in the journey of start-ups and enable them to scale both their business and their sustainable impact significantly faster.”

The summit comes at a time of uncertainty for many biotech firms. Policy changes have tightened funding, and the cost of acquiring high-quality data for AI models has increased. At the same time, the potential for AI to transform how food, dairy, seafood, and even cosmetics are developed and produced continues to grow.

Among the participating companies was BioRaptor, a start-up that offers an AI-driven bioprocess optimization platform. “This is an exciting time for biotech – they are able to bring science fiction to life, making products that were impossible just years ago,” said Ori Zakin, Co-founder & CEO of BioRaptor. “Our platform streamlines data collection, enables instant analysis, and accelerates process development.”

Start-ups from across the sector were joined by established companies exploring new ideas and partnerships. Wolfgang Heinzl, Director of Business Development at PHW Group, a German family-owned poultry company now investing in alternative proteins, praised the summit for its practical value. “If there’s only one good contact from this event, it’s sufficient,” said Heinzl. “I really enjoyed the in-depth presentations and discussions today. Start-ups are run by very ambitious people that take a high risk and aim to go beyond borders. They try to break established rules, and that’s what we need within corporates. The speed and agility they bring to the table benefit everyone.”

Triplebar, another start-up present at the summit, is working to accelerate protein production using generative AI models for strain design. “These models can create a strain for precision fermentation that would have taken years and millions of dollars to construct manually,” said Sarah Bolmer, Vice President, Product. “Our strength is deep-technical information and development. To make that a reality, we must work with people that have the power to bring it to market. This event is a unique opportunity to learn from like-minded people and find the right partners downstream of our company.”

One recurring theme across sessions was the critical importance of data quality in developing successful AI applications. Participants emphasized that even the most advanced generative AI models are ineffective without reliable data inputs. Many noted that generating proprietary data in-house and securing high-quality data from partners is essential for building trust with corporate collaborators, especially when delivering components such as enzymes or proteins.

The summit also reinforced the financial case for data quality. Better data enables more accurate assessment of product viability and can shorten R&D timelines, reducing the risks of entering new markets like alternative proteins.

Looking ahead, Icos Capital and Bühler plan to continue growing their network of innovators. “We’re always looking to expand our network and encourage entrepreneurs ready to scale to contact us directly,” said Lal.