SymbioMatch: Where nature meets AI for healthier soils and yields
Customized biostimulants promise to replace one-size-fits-all fertilizers with precision, sustainability, and intelligence.
Published on November 30, 2025
Bart, co-founder of Media52 and Professor of Journalism oversees IO+, events, and Laio. A journalist at heart, he keeps writing as many stories as possible.
At StartLife’s 15th anniversary celebration in Ede, eleven pioneering agrifoodtech startups took the stage to show how science and entrepreneurship can reshape the future of food. From smarter biostimulants and energy-efficient farming robots to next-generation proteins and nutrient innovations, each team presented a bold solution to one of the world’s most urgent challenges: feeding a growing population within planetary limits. In this IO+ series, we highlight their stories; not just the technologies they’re building, but also their vision and the advice they received from the expert panels. Today, we focus on SymbioMatch.
At the StartLife Demo Day in Ede, Marcela Mendoza-Suarez spoke with a calm intensity that immediately caught the room’s attention. “Economic impact,” she began, “is also an environmental issue.” Her opening sentence summed up the mission behind SymbioMatch, a startup that blends biology and artificial intelligence to reimagine how we grow food.
The challenge she described is enormous and urgent. Around the world, farmers depend on chemical fertilizers to boost yields, but those same chemicals degrade soil health, pollute waterways, and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Biostimulants, natural products that enhance plant growth and soil vitality, offer a promising alternative. But today’s biostimulants, Mendoza-Suarez explained, are mostly generic.
“They have a very narrow performance,” she said. “When they move across environments, they have a high fail rate.” What works for one field often fails in another, because soil ecosystems are as unique as fingerprints. “At SymbioMatch, we are addressing these problems by developing customized biostimulants — inspired by nature, optimized by AI.”
From nature’s logic to machine learning
SymbioMatch’s approach builds on more than a decade of academic research into plant–microbe–soil interactions. The startup uses a machine learning platform trained on vast datasets that capture how specific crops and soil types respond to different microbial strains. “Our technology allows us to develop region- and crop-specific customized biostimulants,” Mendoza-Suarez said. “We analyze real data from plant, macro, and soil interactions to identify the best match.”
Once the algorithm has identified the ideal microbe, the team cultivates it through fermentation and applies it to the seed using coating technology. “This isn’t just an idea,” she emphasized. “It works. Our formulations have been independently validated by seed corporates in three agricultural cycles.”
The results are striking. SymbioMatch’s biostimulants deliver an average 10% yield increase while maintaining remarkable stability across different fields. “The dots in our validation graph,” she smiled, “show how consistent the performance is.”
Targeting the legume market
The biostimulant market is expanding rapidly. In Europe alone, it is expected to double by 2030 as agriculture shifts away from synthetic inputs. SymbioMatch has identified its first strategic entry point: legume crops.
“Legumes are an excellent starting point,” Mendoza-Suarez explained. “They are high in plant protein, which is increasingly in demand, and they have healthy gross margins. Our clients are seed corporates who use our customized formulations to coat seeds before selling them to farmers.”
For farmers, the value proposition is clear: “They receive a product ready on the seed,” she said. “They don’t need to add extra time or equipment in the field. It’s a simple, elegant solution.”
From lab to market
Behind the scenes, SymbioMatch has quietly evolved from a research project into a business. “We have a very scientific team,” Mendoza-Suarez said. “We developed this technology within universities for over a decade, and in the last year, we have moved from research to business and now to building an advisory board.”
What the company needs next is a business co-founder to help scale the technology and expand partnerships. “If you’re interested,” she told the audience with a grin, “please speak to us during the break.”
Between clients and investors
During the Q&A, Mendoza-Suarez raised a challenge familiar to many deep-tech founders: aligning investor expectations with real customer needs. “We listen to our customers; their pains, their necessities,” she said. “But investors often have another idea. It’s difficult to connect what my client wants with what investors expect.”
Panel members offered sympathetic but practical advice. “If the two conflict,” one said, “choose the customer. Getting alignment early and proving real traction gives investors the conviction they need.” Another added: “Investors want your business to be profitable, but clients define whether your solution reaches the market. Listen to both, but start with the user.”
A third panelist summarized it neatly: “It’s not about choosing sides, it’s about validation. Understand your unique value proposition, prove it in the field, and bring everyone to the same table.”
Regenerating soil, not just profits
As the discussion turned toward regenerative agriculture, Mendoza-Suarez saw an opportunity to reframe SymbioMatch’s broader impact. “You’re right,” she said to one of the panelists, “sustainable soil management can solve many problems. Our products use natural bacteria that help regenerate the soil. So the benefit goes far beyond yield; we’re restoring soil vitality.”
That holistic view - profitable and regenerative - resonated strongly with the audience. Mendoza-Suarez concluded with quiet confidence: “Yes, investors want numbers, and we’re generating them. But our true value is deeper: we’re building technologies that bring agriculture and nature back into balance.”
As applause filled the hall, it was clear that SymbioMatch had struck a chord. In a world racing to feed a growing population without wrecking the planet, her closing words sounded less like a pitch and more like a promise: nature still holds the answers; we just need the intelligence to match them.
15 years Startlife
Read about all the startups that were part of StartLife’s 15th anniversary Demo Day.