Start me up!

Created and organised by TWB since 2018, Start me up! (ex-TWB START-UP DAY) aims to bring together in the field of industrial biotechnologies: start-uppers working for an eco-responsible industry and wishing expand their business activity, investors and industrials looking for innovative solutions and all the international stakeholders in this field.The event takes place in English, includes conferences, pitchs, testimonials, exchange and networking times. Start me up! includes two contests for start-uppers and entrepreneurs. Every year, the event brings together nearly 200 professionals, including 50 start-ups, representing 12 different countries.

Distinguished speakers

Among many renowned speakers, Didier Miraton; currently President of the consulting firm La Combe, lecturer at the Collège des Ingénieurs and former Managing Director of both the Michelin Group and Pierre Fabre Laboratories; Sarah Reisinger, Senior Vice President Research Operations of Firmenich, a leader in the perfumery and flavours industry ; Randy Rettberg, President of the Igem Foundation (MIT) ; Alain Marty, Scientific Director of CARBIOS, a French company in the field of biochemistry that has invented an industrial application of enzymes renders plastic waste compostable ; Sean Simpson,Co founder and Scientific Director of Lanzatech ; Albert Meige, founder and President of Presans, Academic Director at HEC Paris ; Joel Cherry, R&D President of the American start-up Amyris, a pioneer in the field of synthetic biology.

Two unique contests

The event also hosts two competitions where candidates compete in front of experts from the investment and innovation sector:

since 2018: “Fast track it!”, dedicated to start-ups of 8 years old or less who are developing their technologies, offers the chance to win a prize comprising a dedicated access to TWB technical platforms valued. Since the 4^th edition in 2021, the contest partner: IAR cluster, has also been offering communication opportunities. This prize was won by Dust BioSolutions (Germany) in 2018, Better Nature (Great Britain) in 2019, Octarine (Denmark) in 2020, ZYMVOL (Spain) in 2021, Ambrosia Bio (IL) in 2022 & Biomia (DK) in 2024.
since 2021: “Go for it!”, dedicated to entrepreneurs who are at the final stage of the ideation, offers the chance to win 4 days of mentoring provided by TWB and its ecosystem and by the contest partners, French Tech Toulouse and ShakeUp Factory. This prize was won by FluoSphera (Switzerland) in 2021, Dionymer (FR) in 2022 et inLux Biotech (FR) in 2024.