Spin-Off Spotlight / Invitrolize / Meet Arno Gutleb, Founder

Invitrolize is the 11th spin-off of LIST. We talked to Arno Gutleb, co-founder of this startup, to find out more about the journey of the company, from research to entrepreneurship. Find out more here…

Technology Origin and Development

 

Arno, what was the research or technology that formed the basis of this spin-off?

It is a technology that we developed in my research group, at LIST, as part of a doctoral thesis, which was then patented, published, and used in a few preliminary industrial collaborations to see if it was useful. The technology was then further developed and refined thanks to the Fonds National de Recherche (FNR), where we conducted two years of case studies and transferability testing.

Market Transition

 

What made the spin-off ready for launch?

Of course, you need a team that supports you. You need a good scientific product. In our case, it is a very scientific product. But what was important for me to take the step was knowing that there were already clients out there waiting for the product. I did not start looking for clients. I knew I was starting and I had clients.

 

"I didn't start looking for clients. I knew I was starting and I had clients"

 

What were the biggest challenges in transitioning from research to market?

I think first, on one hand, convincing potential customers of the validity of your product, that you can really help them. At the same time, as a scientist, understanding that your model has restrictions, that there are chemicals you cannot test. So, understanding what are the limits of applicability.

I was always a scientist in a kind of helicopter position. I was never the scientist knowing everything about one molecule and what it does. I was always more of a generalist, having a good overview, but not going into details, and that helped me when talking about having a startup. I had to change at least five or six times in my life the topic of my research. That gives you flexibility or mental flexibility when something changes.

When LIST has been created, there was a strong push as an RTO (Research and Technology Organization) to develop something that could be a product.

 

"I was always more of a generalist, having a good overview, but not going into details, and that helped me when talking about having a startup"

 

What support did the RTO provide?

The support I received came mainly from LIST Ventures. I got a lot of information there on how to go to market, as well as the marketing materials. From photos that I can use in my marketing to videos, to support in setting up the website and my exhibition booth.

 

Value Proposition

 

What problem are you solving? What is your value proposition?

There are thousands, if not tens of thousands of products produced every year that workers or consumers will inhale, and none of them test whether it can induce respiratory sensitization. Why? Because there is no animal model. So the only experiment we do is we observe our employees and we observe our consumers, whether they show symptoms. And then it is too late as big investments may have been done.I can help industry to identify very early in product development if there is a potential problem

 

"there are thousands, if not tens of thousands of products produced every year that workers or consumers will inhale, and none of them test whether it can induce respiratory sensitization"

 

Business Development

 

How did you identify the commercial applications and market?

For us, it was a bit like going the normal way you work in a scientific institution. You go to a conference, you present your data. And what we experienced was that suddenly industry that was present at these conferences were very interested in the technology. They wanted to get more information. They wanted to do a proof of concept study.

These industrial collaborations with LIST confirmed that Invitrolize had a viable product. It is fit for the purpose of industry, and there is a market out there. And the rest is then you have to be on trade shows, you have to be on scientific conferences, you have to talk to people. You have to “clean door handles”, as we say in Austria. You have to open and close many doors and you have to talk and convince people.

 

"you have to “clean door handles”, as we say in Austria. You have to open and close many doors and you have to talk and convince people"

 

What is the business model and how did it evolve?

We applied for Fit 4 Start, which is a two-year project funding from the Ministry of the Economy (MECO) and was very important and unique in Luxembourg. I got a lot of excellent training once we got approved. I always say it is my “nano MBA”, I learned a lot on practicalities to make the step from scientist to an entrepreneur.

Every month you have to pitch to a panel of nine people and they challenge your business model. Originally we thought we will do in-house testing and that we can also ship inserts as a kit to the client so they can do whatever they want. This is the classical model for deep tech biotech companies like us.

We realized thanks to the panel that when you make one client after the other, it takes you a week or two to write a report. But once you start to have more clients, you cannot. You do not have the time to write a report in two weeks.

Now, and it is the second leg of the business model, we will develop in the next two years an AI tool that will take the raw data, makes the figures, write a draft report.

So there is also now, in addition to in-house testing and shipping of inserts, an AI tool that in the future, maybe in as early as year three, will create a small but increasing revenue.

 

"we will develop in the next two years an AI tool that will take the raw data, makes the figures, write a draft report"

 

Strategy & Team

 

How did you balance technology and business skills?

Team is key in a startup. You especially need somebody with a business development background, who knows well the venture ecosystem. For this reason, I hired Asier Sesma, our CCO, and I had since the beginning, a CSO, Sabina Burla, who runs the lab and is developing methods to present to clients, etc. However, you start to miss hands in the lab and we were recently very lucky to hire a scientist with a background in immunology, which is a real asset for us.

 

"team is key in a startup. You especially need somebody with a business development background, who knows well the venture ecosystem"

 

Funding and Outlook

 

What funding have you obtained and are you raising funds?

We have secured €150K from Fit 4 Start and are about to close a Seed financing round with an investor here in Luxembourg.

What are the next steps?

We have now a few upcoming sponsors for new projects including a very large customer and are in discussions with other projects, in US notably

We also want to develop a new version of the model for a specific tool. Which would open up for drug development, which we currently can not do, hopefully leading also to new patents.

We have a limited shelf life of the product. So when we shipped the product, it has a shelf life of 48-72 hours, which means we cannot ship to countries outside of the European Union. We cannot ship to the US either, which is fine as long as you want to work in Europe only. But we do have a strong pull to go to the UK, where I have clients that want to start to work with me. And the same in the US. So the idea is that with the investment, we can meet the demand from our customers and provide the service there. We plan to establish Invitrolize in the UK and US in 2026.

 

"we have secured €150K from Fit 4 Start and are about to close a Seed financing round with an investor here in Luxembourg"

 

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More information about Invitrolize: https://invitrolize.com/

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