General

Company : NEXIDIA
Country: France
BIC: PREMICE

Company profile

Key words: Microbiology, Probiotics, Viability, Stabilisers
Year founded: 2007
Founders: Jean Guzzo, PhD. Professor at the University of Dijon. More than 15-years experience within the industry through his academic collaborations in the food industry and the waste treatments and Patrice Arbault, PhD. Founder and Consultant at BioAdvantage Consulting. More than 15-years experience within the diagnostic and food industries
Company funded by: founders, bank loan, grants (R&D projects), award
Target market: Food Industry, Agro-Environment (waste treatment), Pharmaceutical
Number of employees: 6
Sales07: 253 k€
Hosted at: PREMICE since 2007
Other facts: - Member of the Cluster VITAGORA (Taste, Nutrition, Health) 

R&D services in Microbiology

NEXIDIA has developed laboratory technologies combining molecular biology, flow cytometry, cellular physiology for the rapid evaluation of the status of starter cultures. By combining the various data collected from the different technologies, NEXIDIA has been able to qualify the starter culture before the industrial applications, to optimise the production processes, to select new starter cultures, to develop pre-adaptation protocols before the industrial applications.

Furthermore, NEXIDIA has also characterised proteins which may play a role in stabilising proteins and/or products of industrial interest. A first patent was submitted in November 2008 for dairy applications. Further studies are now on-going for new applications in various fields (food and pharmaceutical).

We contact the BIC because…
Jean Guzzo and Patrice Arbault contacted PREMICE in 2005 as their project for creating NEXIDIA was becoming concrete. They consulted PREMICE to review (i) the available supports for their project, (ii) the local offers for the implantation of their activities, (iii) the available facilities.
According to Nexidia founders: “PREMICE has played the role of a catalyser for our project: we got strong support (not only words but also operational actions) to move ahead from our concrete business plan to operational activities”.

The most important service received…
The network and all the support (financial help) to buzz around the project, offer them the rhythm to set up the company.

Without the BIC …
Delays in the various creation steps, difficulties to find facilities, limitations to get the project introduced to various Parties (Local institutions, local partners, communication). Even Nexidia team members clarified that “If PREMICE would not have been there, we are not convinced that NEXIDIA would have set up its facilities in Dijon”

In the face of the financial crisis…

The company has been growing nicely for the last 6 months and the next 6 months look very promising.
Nexidia is engaged in various innovative projects, either on their own or with their customers. Nexidia’s managers claim that “Facing economical crisis stimulate our innovative minds to move forward with the development of forefront products which may represent a basement for a new take off of our business partners. We are convinced that innovation will be an important key to stimulate new industrial development and fruitful business concept. The start-up companies have an important role to play in regards of their flexibility and reactivity”.

Meantime, the company expects to expand patent portfolio which will be a positive asset for contracting with industrial partners interested in licensing its technologies, and for raising money in order to pursue their development.

National competition for start-up companies offering innovative technologies, 2006

NEXIDIA
26 boulevard du docteur Petitjean – CP 87999 – 21079 DIJON Cedex
Cellphone: +33 6 32 90 66 77 – Office phone: +33 3 80 77 25 67 – Fax: +33 3 80 77 25 51
Email: Patrice.arbault@nexidia.fr ; Web Site: www.nexidia.fr (under construction)