Guillaume Leboucher

An alumnus of the Faculty of Science and Engineering, Guillaume Leboucher is president of Labtoo. Co-founded in 2017 with Sophie Hue, this startup aims to simplify exchanges between laboratories, scientists and companies thanks to a team of experts and a state-of-the-art platform.

Tell us about your background at Sorbonne University.

Guillaume Leboucher: Driven for a long time by the desire to understand diseases and how the body functions, I undertook a biochemistry course at Sorbonne University before joining the ‘biology and pharmacology of aging’ master's program. It opened me to the business world thanks to the intervention of professionals from the pharmaceutical industry. I then did an internship at the National Institute of Health, in the United States, in the laboratory of Dr. Allan Weissman, where I stayed for my PhD.

How did you come up with the idea to create Labtoo ?

G. L.: After a thesis on cancer during which I had the chance to collaborate with high-level scientists, I spent several years working in an international laboratory equipment company. I realized that the heart of technological innovation was on the side of knowledge and the scientific community. It therefore seemed essential to me to make new tools available to the scientific community so that its activities could respond effectively to the challenges facing society.

Originally, my project was to imagine a platform of interconnection to facilitate the development of scientific expertise, while also creating bridges between the economic world and the academic world. After more than two years in operation, we regularly evolve the platform and more generally our offer in order to stay close to our users.

What are the goals and ambitions of your startup, currently at Station F ?

G. L.: Today, it takes between 10 and 15 years to bring a drug to market. The research and development (R&D) phases are very long and costly. We want all innovative project leaders to have rapid access to the expertise they are looking for. For example, young startups that need to conduct experiments for their biotech or pharmaceutical project do not necessarily have the laboratories or the necessary equipment in-house. We therefore provide our platform and the know-how of our team of scientists to find a service provider in less than 48 hours who will subcontract their experimentation and move their project forward. This combination of digital and human resources allows us to be so efficient.

Our ambition is to contribute to reducing drug development times and to rethink R&D outsourcing in biotechnology. With more than 1,000 users in France and Europe (public and private laboratories, companies and scientist-entrepreneurs), we already offer more than 300 services that we enrich daily.
 
What connection do you have with Sorbonne University today?

G. L.: Thanks to the master's degree in biology and pharmacology of aging, we found our first trainees, and then our first student currently working for us. I have also seen in the United States and Israel that Sorbonne University's academic programs and professional network are recognized worldwide.

In 2020, we established a partnership with Sorbonne University's research and innovation department in order to promote the know-how and services of the university's technological platforms and offer their services to our clients. We already have several projects underway and others to come. I am very happy to be able to maintain this link, and to show that PhD candidates can become entrepreneurs!

What advice would you give to those who want to become entrepreneurs?

G. L.: In France, we are fortunate to have an ecosystem that is conducive to innovation. It is important in order to move forward, to get closer to support structures such as technology transfer acceleration companies, incubators, and the public investment bank.

I also think it’s essential to find a partner with complementary skills. I co-founded Labtoo with Sophie Hue, my childhood friend and graduate of Edhec and Paris Dauphine. Familiar with the startup ecosystem in France and abroad, she brought her skills in management, marketing, communication and finance. We have also associated Adrien Gatineau. As director of new technologies, he brings additional skills and vision for the development of our platform.

In response to the health crisis, you launched a special Covid-19 platform. Can you tell us more about it

G. L.: After surveying our community, we realized that many service providers were available and willing to work on Covid-19 projects. In the context of the health crisis, we have adapted our platform to accelerate projects on SARS-CoV-2 by referencing all the laboratories and companies likely to contribute to this type of project.

The scientific community supports this initiative and the platform is already able to offer services on the development of drugs, vaccines and diagnostic kits for Covid-19. We have already completed several projects with French and international companies