10 European Startups to watch in 2026
Ten young European biotechs are heading into 2026 with the kind of momentum that can quickly turn promising science into defining data: first clinical entries, platform-to-pipeline transitions, and funding rounds large enough to accelerate execution. Some are pushing new modalities into hard disease areas, while others are compressing discovery timelines and expanding what’s druggable. What they all share is a clear momentum that makes them especially worth following this year.
To build this list, we applied a simple set of filters before making our final selection:
- Companies must be headquartered in Europe,
- Founded in the last 5 years (2021 or later)
- Raised funding in the last 24 months (2024 or later)
Our list is also focused on biopharma companies and we excluded diagnostics, lab equipment/tools, and medtech from our selection. From the pool of eligible companies, our editorial team made an opinion call to pick the final ten, prioritizing those with a recent catalyst event (first-in-human, major partnering, or a step-change financing) that could make the next 12-24 months decisive. We then ranked the final ten by the size of their most recent disclosed funding round.
Without further ado, here’s our list of startups to watch in 2026, originally published in European Biotechnology Magazine Spring 2026:
1. Isomorphic Labs
Isomorphic Labs is Alphabet/Google DeepMind’s drug-discovery spinout turning AlphaFold – the AI breakthrough that predicts protein structures – into a drug design engine for small molecules. After years in platform-build mode, it is now gearing up to enter the clinic: CEO Demis Hassabis recently said at the World Economic Forum in Davos that the company is preparing to dose its first patients, with trials expected to start by the end of 2026. Commercial momentum has also kept pace. In January 2024, Isomorphic signed multi-target discovery deals with Lilly and Novartis worth nearly $3bn in potential milestones (including $45m and $37.5m upfronts), and it expanded the Novartis collaboration in February 2025. A $600m first external financing led by Thrive Capital followed on March 31, 2025, funding the push from model-building to medicines.
www.isomorphiclabs.com
2. Draig Therapeutics
Draig Therapeutics is a neuropsychiatry spinout from Cardiff University and SV Health Investors developing small-molecule medicines that target core neurotransmission pathways in major brain disorders. Its lead asset DT-101 has completed Phase 1 safety work and is now moving into Phase 2 for major depressive disorder, with a global study that started at the end of 2025. The company also has additional clinical-stage programs and is advancing highly selective GABAA receptor modulators toward the clinic in 2026. Draig emerged from stealth with unusually mature assets for a young European startup, backed by a large $140m (€120m) Series A announced on 18 June 2025, giving it the firepower to run multiple trials in parallel and quickly broaden beyond depression.
3. Adcytherix
Adcytherix is part of the new wave of European antibody-drug conjugates (ADC) companies betting that the next step-change in efficacy will come from novel payload classes, not just new antibodies. Formed by the team behind Emergence Therapeutics (acquired by Eli Lilly in 2023 for a three-figure million amount), Adcytherix is building a proprietary ADC pipeline led by ADCX-020, which entered a Phase 1 for locally advanced or metastatic cancer patients in February 2026, a fast timeline that has helped it stand out in a crowded ADC field. That momentum is backed by rare early firepower: after a €30m seed at incorporation (June 2024), Adcytherix closed a €105m Series A on 16 Oct 2025 to fund the first clinical entry and expand additional programs.
4. Orbis Medicines
Orbis Medicines is developing orally available macrocycle drugs (“nCycles”) designed to hit targets typically addressed by injectable biologics, aiming for biologic-like potency with pill-like convenience. Its nGen platform combines automated chemistry with machine learning to systematically explore macrocycle design, building a pipeline around validated blockbuster targets. The company remains preclinical, but its financing cadence has been unusually strong for a young European biotech: it emerged from stealth with a €26m seed in Feb 2024 and followed with a €90m Series A on 6 Jan 2025, bringing total capital raised to €116m. In parallel, Orbis has been widening its technology stack via a research collaboration and option-to-license with Vivtex entered in 2024 to support next-generation orally dosable nCycles, signalling an aggressive push to translate platform output into development candidates.
5. NanoPhoria
NanoPhoria Bioscience is developing inhalable cardiovascular biologics using a proprietary “nano-in-micro” lung-to-heart delivery platform built on calcium-phosphate nanoparticles. Its lead asset NP-MP1, a first-in-class peptide targeting cardiac L-type calcium channels for Heart Failure with reduced Ejection Fraction (HfrEF), has shown efficacy in preclinical models and is now being pushed through IND-enabling and into early clinical development. Momentum accelerated in the past two years: NanoPhoria secured an €17.5m EIC Accelerator commitment in Feb 2025 to support progress toward first-in-human studies, then followed with €83.5m on Oct 6, 2025, securing Italy’s largest Series A in history to fund GMP scale-up, regulatory work and early trials, and to expand beyond heart failure.
6. DISCO Pharmaceuticals
DISCO Pharmaceuticals is building what it calls a “surfaceome” discovery engine, mapping the full set of proteins on tumor cell surfaces to uncover new, cancer-selective targets for antibody medicines. The bet is straightforward: better targets unlock better ADCs and T-cell engagers, expanding beyond the relatively small set of cell-surface antigens that dominate today’s oncology pipelines. DISCO’s first programs focus on small cell lung cancer and microsatellite-stable colorectal cancer, with multiple lead ADC candidates being pushed toward IND-enabling work as the company aims for clinical entry. Momentum over the past two years includes a €36m seed round in 2025, alongside a CEO handover to former Takeda/Atlas oncology leader Mark Manfredi, and an exclusive licence agreement with Amgen to develop novel cancer therapies targeting cell-surface structures with a potential value of up to US$618 million.
7. Aerska
Aerska is tackling one of neurogenetic medicine’s hardest bottlenecks: systemic delivery to the brain. The company is developing RNA interference (RNAi) therapies paired with an antibody-oligo conjugate (AOC) “brain shuttle” designed to ferry payloads across the blood–brain barrier, aiming to replace invasive CNS dosing with more scalable administration. The story of the company has moved fast: Aerska launched out of stealth with a $21m (€17m) seed on Oct 1, 2025, then closed a $39m (€32m) Series A on Feb 9, 2026, bringing total funding to $60m (€49m) as it pushes the platform toward clinical readiness and builds a CNS pipeline.
8. Vandria
Vandria is a Swiss clinical-stage biotech advancing first-in-class, oral small molecules that induce mitophagy, aiming to restore mitochondrial function and dampen chronic inflammation in age-related disease. Its lead asset VNA-318 is brain-penetrant and is being developed for Alzheimer’s disease. The program delivered positive first-in-human Phase 1 topline data in late 2025, supporting the next step toward patient studies. The company’s momentum has been underpinned by a two-step Series A completed in 2024: an initial $20.6m (~€19m) financing to take VNA-318 into the clinic, followed by a second close bringing the Series A to $30.7m (~€28.4m), extending the runway for subsequent efficacy work and pipeline expansion.
9. Phagos
Phagos is developing bacteriophage-based medicines – viruses that selectively kill bacteria – as a precision alternative to antibiotics, starting with animal health, where antimicrobial resistance is becoming a practical constraint. What sets it apart is the combination of microbiology + AI to design tailored phage cocktails quickly, and an unusual regulatory foothold: the company says it holds the first authorisation to market personalised veterinary phage treatments in the EU. With that, Phagos is shifting from R&D to deployment in the field, while building a platform it ultimately wants to extend into human health. The company raised €25m Series A in 2025 to scale commercial rollout and its discovery tech, following a €2.4m seed in 2022.
www.Phagos.com
10. Seamless Therapeutics
Seamless Therapeutics is developing a next-generation gene-editing approach based on programmable recombinases, enzymes long used in research that have been re-engineered to make large, precise DNA insertions/excisions at defined genomic sites, without relying on the cell’s DNA-repair pathways as CRISPR does. The company is still preclinical, but it has been steadily moving from toolmaking toward therapeutics, positioning the platform for first clinical evaluation. Momentum over the past two years has come less from splashy financings than from strategic validation: after reporting it had raised $25m (~€21m) in seed financing in 2024, Seamless signed a global research collaboration and licensing deal with Eli Lilly on Jan 28, 2026 to develop recombinase-based genetic medicines for hearing loss in a partnership worth over $1.12bn (~€0.93bn) in potential payments plus royalties.
Technologiepark Heidelberg