​Ripple Hosts

​Maxi Pethö-Schramm

​HV Capital

​Carolina Villa

​Nucleus Capital

​TL;DR

​Industrial biotech has high potential but faces tough challenges when scaling from lab to industrial production. Technical issues and costly infrastructure decisions can drive up expenses and hurt product quality. As costs could exceed revenues during scale-up, process efficiency becomes critical. Key discussion points include causes of scale-up failure, business model trade-offs, investor metrics, and strategies to control costs early.

​Topic overview

​Why is the topic relevant?

​Industrial biotechnology holds immense promise to transform industries and address global challenges, offering economic, environmental, and social benefits. However, scaling an industrial biomanufacturing startup from lab to commercial production is exceptionally challenging. The transition from controlled lab conditions to large-scale real-world operations introduces complex hurdles, including maintaining consistent yields and product quality as variables like mixing, oxygen transfer, and shear forces shift. These technical challenges are compounded by strategic decisions around infrastructure—whether to invest in a custom-built facility, which can cost tens to hundreds of millions in CapEx, or to operate within CDMOs that may not align with specific process requirements. As operations scale, OpEx also climbs steeply— sometimes creating a period of negative unit economics, where the cost of production exceeds potential revenue, making process optimization and standardization urgent priorities for long-term viability.

​What’s up for discussion?

• ​What factors are driving scale-up failures in industrial biotech (e.g., CapEx Catch-22, overfocus on tech/underfocus on unit economics, process unpredictability, lack of operational expertise)?

• ​What are the trade-offs inherent in different business models, ranging from asset-light (e.g., tech licensing) to asset-heavy (e.g., build-own-operate) approaches?

• ​What are the key financial ratios that different types of investors (Venture, Growth Equity, Debt Providers) evaluate biomanufacturing startups on?

• ​What are best early stage practices for controlling the cost curve and reducing CapEx and OpEx (e.g.,mimicking industrial conditions at the lab, using TEAs as a guiding tool)?

​Dream outcome

​Moving beyond the notion that biotech is too capital-intensive and providing founders and investors with a more nuanced discussion on how to break the cost barrier in biomanufacturing.

​Who should attend?

​Investors, founders, and corporates active in the industrial biotech space.

​Resources

​Nucleus Capital Bio Funding Napkin: https://medium.com/@nucleuscapital/made-with-biology-funding-napkin-2025-nucleus-capital-8693e819b4c9

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