Innovation is our business
Giving academic researchers the tools they need to turn inventions into marketable products.
Business incubator, company builder, startup studio – there are many ways to describe what Quattrocento does. But when we really consider the true nature of our business, we all agree it boils down to one vision: we are innovators in the life sciences. We find high-potential scientific and medical inventions in French research laboratories and turn them into products that fulfill specific needs. We create companies whose growth is driven by usage and then guide them to the marketing phase for products that align with what our users want. Team work is a top priority at Quattrocento, where experts from a wide range of fields synergistically collaborate across the entire value chain required to advance from idea to company and ultimately to sales. A business like ours only works in the right kind of atmosphere, so we built 520 m2 of prototyping workshops, research laboratories, brainstorming spaces, and mobile offices for business developers. In other words, it's a buzzing beehive of activity located right where the academic research happens.
Quattrocento isn't an inventor, it's an innovator!
A flourishing field
Life sciences, a scientific revolution
First came the digital revolution and now life sciences is experiencing its own transformation with landmark scientific advances that are changing the world as we know it as well as the realm of possibilities. We chose to make this booming sector our testing ground by becoming “ax and shovel” experts, aka specialists in equipment, medical devices and groundbreaking reagents for this burgeoning sector. At its subsidiaries, Quattrocento develops tools backed by cutting-edge technologies being innovated at research labs that provide a glimpse into future applications for more personalized medicine.
Applications
- Cellular and tissue engineering
- Cell imaging
- Tools for Regenerative Medicine and Personalized Medicine
- Detection of microorganisms in the microbiota, vaccine production, phagotherapy
- 3D cell culture and organoids
- Cell and gene therapy
A growth model
Quattrocento is a manufacturer that designs projects in-house and then expands them as startups.
Our venture begins with a simple fact: French research laboratories are at the leading edge of science and are teeming with inventions that have never been developed. French researchers are masters in their field and full of ideas that they want to become a reality in order to revolutionize current practices. But things get tricky when shifting from theory to practice and invention to marketable product. That’s where Quattrocento comes in. We pinpoint the technology, test its feasibility ourselves, analyze its consumer potential and forecast its industrialization. And when we spot a rising star, we assume the risk of launching the project, investing the capital, creating a subsidiary with a motivated team of experts, and giving it the best chances to grow.
Scientific collaboration
The surefire key to success: Work with researchers and research labs from Day 1
Our experts find the ideas, but the researchers behind those inventions become an integral part of the process. From both a moral and financial perspective, it's only natural they are involved from the minute the subsidiary is created. They personally go on to develop more scientific advances under a collaborative research agreement. It’s a win-win situation. It is mutually beneficial for researchers to continue their academic work in their own laboratories separate from Quattrocento's operational hub. They keep their independence and freedom and we maintain close relations with the labs. It's one way to help spark innovation by supporting inventions.
Subsidiaries that specialize in equipment for the life sciences
Teams of experts have developed innovative technologies like cell sample preparation control or nanoparticles size and concentration measurement
Quattrocento creates a subsidiary for each invention it determines has potential for success and forms a full project team around the nucleus of academic researchers. The team members perform functions needed to get the company’s business off the ground: marketing, management, product development and science. We ensure the startups are operating smoothly with a skillful team of experienced managers – some employees played a decisive role in the success of Echosens, which became a top company in noninvasive hepatology diagnostics – and a community-driven network of partners joined by French Tech (BPI). It’s a sort of “smart money” model where capital and skills go hand in hand.
Alvéole
An end-to-end solution for accurate cellular level control of the protein environment in living cells.
- 9 experts
- 135 PRIMO units installed worldwide
- Over 300 users researchers in academic labs
- More than 100 scientific publications
The Alvéole teams developed an innovative protein printing technique using photolithography that creates micropatterns on cell culture substrates. They are in effect protein patterns a few microns in size, which means they can control the shape and proliferation of living cells with extreme precision, much like a tailor customizes a suit. This technology is opening new doors in countless fields, such as stem cell research and regenerative medicine, cellular testing to reduce animal experimentation in drug development, and targeted therapies by working directly on a patient's cells. Alvéole is part of an ambition to give researchers cellular microenvironment management tools that help solve specific major public health issues in fields like cancer, immunology, neurobiology and regenerative medicine.
Myriade
An easy-to-use and robust device for label-free measurement of nano-objects in complex solutions.
- 7 experts
- 85 Videodrop units in the market
- 1 million € in revenue in 2022
- A key player in in-process quality control for lentivirus bioproduction
- 75% of revenue from direct sales to Biotech, CDMO and big pharma
Myriade develops an innovative device and associated consumable to study nanometric particles in solutions and especially biological nanoparticles such as viruses, phages or vesicles. Applications are quality control of phage/virus bioproductions, microbiota analysis, measurement of extracellular vesicles for the fields of phagotherapy or immunotherapy.
Idylle
Because researchers are developing and demanding the most innovative tools, Idylle, a specialist in reagents and consumables in life sciences, has designed a community platform for them.
- 15 products with 50% of annual growth
- More than 2 500 users
- 500 product feedbacks
- Over 100 ongoing projects
Idylle accelerates the discovery of new products by providing on its platform the latest innovations in reagents and consumables for the life sciences. Idylle promotes community exchanges by identifying the best "couples" designers / users through matching algorithms and by administering privileged discussion channels. All logistical and administrative operations are performed from suppliers to customers. With Idylle, researchers finance their work, benefit from expertise and gain notoriety. As for the institutions, they make profitable their investments, reinforce their brand image and accelerate the transfer of technology.
A team-centric state of mind
Everyone works with Quattrocento for a reason
When you come into our workshop, there are spaces for researchers and employees – but you’ll also notice visiting shareholders who come to lend their expertise. We want to use the same innovation in forming our base of shareholders to bring together synergistic skills that can contribute to the operational aspects as needs are expressed in areas like prototyping, industrial design, computer engineering, marketing strategy, consulting and human resources. There is an unmistakable feeling of entrepreneurial spirit in this casual open space and we want all the companies we create each year to benefit from this exuberant flurry of activity. More than anything, Quattrocento is a state of mind. We're serious about what we do but never take ourselves too seriously.
Mathieu Grisolia
Chairman of Quattrocento & Chief Operating Officer IDYLLE
Mathieu is a physics engineer with degrees from Ecole Polytechnique and ENSTA ParisTech. He earned a PhD from the Thales Research Center in the cross-disciplinary unit founded by 2007 Nobel Laureate in Physics Albert Fert. His time as a PhD student was pivotal because not only did he win the Gold Medal Graduate Student Award from the American Materials Research Society, but this was also when he began promoting the lab's research work by filing several patents in a range of application areas. While doing his dissertation, his immediate fascination for innovation and industrialization gave him a chance to consult in R&D strategy and innovation for the Areva Group. At the same time, he occasionally did projects to increase visibility for research projects being conducted by groundbreaking startups. Aligning with the entrepreneurial spirit of these companies, in 2016 he joined Quattrocento to do upstream assessments for technology projects and develop datamining tools for the subsidiaries. Nothing can hold him back when it comes to showcasing the dots to connect between research, industry and the marketplace in the exciting world of life sciences and medical diagnostics.
Florent Trincali
Chief Financial Officer
After graduating from IPAG Business School, Florent went on to do an Master's degree in management control at EDHEC Business School. He started his career filling various roles at Alstom: management controller in the Transport Division followed by a position as controller for developing railway signaling products. He then went on to work as corporate controller at the group's headquarters. Wanting to pursue his affinity for R&D, he joined Vallourec where he expanded consolidation and analysis of group R&D costs. With a strong interest in innovation-driven companies and searching for a human-sized company offering fresh challenges advancing a future he could help shape, Florent joined Quattrocento as administration and finance manager in 2016. He is a key player in the subsidiaries and uses his interpersonal skills to approach every project with great cross-disciplinary expertise.
Philippe Garabedian
Chief Operating Officer MYRIADE
Philippe has been in charge of Myriade's Operational Management and Development since October 2019. He graduated from Toulouse Business School (2001 to 2004) and obtained an MBA in Business Management from the University of DEUSTO in San Sebastian, Spain (2005). He began his career with GE Healthcare between 2003 and 2004. He then worked at ECHOSENS (medical imaging) as Product Manager from 2008 to 2012. From 2012 to 2016, he was at Mauna Kea Technologies (medical imaging) where he progressed from Senior Product Manager to Head of Product Management, where he was in charge of all product and application developments for the marketing department. Before joining Myriade, he was Global Corporate Marketing Manager at SEPTODONT (dental pharmaceutical industry) between 2016 and 2019. Through his experiences, Philippe has acquired a solid background in market analysis, development and launch of highly innovative new products in Healthcare.
Romuald Vally
Chief Operating Officer ALVÉOLE
Romuald has been in charge of Alvéole’s management and development since September 2016. In 2007, he started as the product manager at Echosens, a medical equipment manufacturer in the hepatology field. In 2010, he became the marketing manager at SEBAC, a subsidiary of one of the European leaders in medical distribution in the hospital sector. His ten years of professional experience mixing manufacturing and distributing medical equipment in sales and marketing have conferred him a global vision of business issues. An essential skill for strong corporate management.
Entrepreneurial spirit meets a true craftsman
