European SynBio Hackhaton: 3 days to remember
Overview:
The European SynBio Hackathon, hosted by the Biocatalyst Foundation, brought together innovators from various fields to develop solutions for global challenges in synthetic biology.
The event, titled “ReadWriteGrow,” featured collaborative sessions, expert-led presentations, and mentorship opportunities. Participants were welcomed into the Slack channel, where they introduced themselves, joined interest channels (e.g., Health + Wellbeing, Agrifood + Nutrition), and found teammates in matchmaking sessions.
The hackathon’s organizers provided all essential resources, including links to Zoom sessions, mentorship booking channels, and an FAQ section, ensuring participants could smoothly navigate the event.
Key Event Activities and Sessions:
Participants formed teams by connecting in matchmaking channels and submitting their team names and project ideas.
Several individuals reached out to find collaborators based on their expertise and project interests. As teams were established, they began working on solutions in fields such as sustainable biotech, healthcare innovation, and circular economy applications.
Expert Presentations and Mentorship:
The hackathon included insightful presentations from experts in the synthetic biology and biotech startup ecosystem:
- Nadège Grabowski from Team for the Planet delivered a presentation on building successful startups. Her talk covered the essentials of startup incubation, business strategy, and fundraising—offering advice tailored for early-stage biotech projects.
- Yasmine Amrani from the University of Strasbourg gave a comprehensive session on storytelling and pitching. She shared tips for crafting engaging pitches, structuring information effectively, and presenting technical solutions in a compelling way. Her presentation on pitch deck design was shared with all participants as a valuable reference for their own project pitches.
- DaVinci Labs also presented on startup incubation in synthetic biology, discussing best practices for managing resources, structuring a business model, and navigating fundraising to scale impactful innovations.
Pitch Preparation and Judging:
Each team prepared a five-minute pitch that addressed critical elements: problem identification, solution features, market landscape, competitor analysis, intellectual property, project roadmap, and team capabilities.
The Biocatalyst Foundation provided guidance and reminders on these components, helping teams refine their presentations.
Judging occurred in two parallel sessions, with teams pitching live to judges and receiving immediate feedback.
Teams that advanced to the final round returned to their breakout rooms to hear the results, ultimately competing for the top three spots.
Winning Teams:
The event concluded with an announcement of the top three winning teams, selected based on the innovation, feasibility, and impact of their projects:
1st Place: ZOMBIO – 1500euros
ZOMBIO won first place for their groundbreaking project for their novel three-chamber bioreactor design unlocking bioproduction of high value chemicals using waste feedstock. – Malika Vassilova, Maxim Velli, Taylor Rayne.
2nd Place: Endostix – 1000euros
Endostix achieved second place with a modelling-based early diagnostic tool for endometriosis using integrated multi-omics approach. – Aleksandra Stojanović, Linh Tran, Iulia Zbîrcea.
3rd Place: NitroDuck – 500euros
NitroDuck took third place with a solution for cutting nitrogen losses and carbon emissions while saving farmer’s money. – Miroslav Rosputinský, Matúš Grieš, Matej Zámečník, Marko Mećava
Event Conclusion and Feedback:
Following the announcement, all participants were congratulated for their contributions and encouraged to continue developing their ideas.
Judges offered to provide feedback for teams interested in refining their projects. To ensure continuous improvement, the Biocatalyst Foundation shared a feedback form, inviting anonymous comments to help make the next hackathon even more impactful.
The event successfully fostered a collaborative, learning-rich environment where innovative synthetic biology solutions could flourish. Congratulations to ZOMBIO, Endostix, and NitroDuck for their outstanding achievements, and to all teams who participated in this inspiring event.
SYNBEE Project coordination contact point:
Alexandra Chukas, European Grant Coordinator Da Vinci Labs (alexandra.chukas@davincilabs.eu)
SYNBEE PR contact point:
Andréia Santos, EU Project Manager at F6S
(andreia@f6s.com)
Sara Canedo, Communications Manager at F6S
(sarafc@f6s.com)
Disclaimer: Funded by the European Union under the Grant Agreement No 101100509. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authorities can be held responsible for them.
