ICube Strasbourg

What ICube Strasbourg does

ICube Strasbourg (formally ICube UMR 7357) is a French Joint Research Unit (Unité Mixte de Recherche) operating under the joint supervision of Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, INSA Strasbourg, and ENGEES. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Strasbourg, the laboratory federates approximately 750 researchers, teacher-researchers, and engineers across 17 research teams and 7 technology platforms, with a research perimeter centered on imaging science and its downstream applications in medical imaging, photonics, robotics, instrumentation, and environmental monitoring. It sustains a high research throughput of 600+ publications per year, 450+ active projects, and a network of 120+ international partners.

The laboratory's technology base spans the full imaging stack — from low-level sensor design and photonics through to computer-vision and machine-learning analysis layers — and explicitly develops capabilities in computer vision, NLP, anomaly detection, generative AI, process automation, and predictive analytics. Research outputs are commercialized through a documented technology-transfer pipeline that has produced spin-offs including TheraSonic (therapeutic ultrasound), TERDEPOL (depollution), La Turbine Française (turbine/energy), and Optiive, supplemented by joint laboratories with industrial partners such as LaserSurf (with IREPA LASER) and AnaVOC (with Chromatotec).

ICube's business model is that of a public-sector research organization rather than a commercial enterprise. Funding flows from its four supervisory institutions, French national research agencies (ANR and equivalents), European programs (Horizon Europe and predecessors), and industry contracts tied to joint labs and sponsored research. There is no customer-facing pricing model; revenue mechanics are grant-driven, with technology licensing and equity in spin-offs providing indirect commercial return. Operational scale has grown to host flagship international venues (MICCAI 2026, SPIE Photonics Europe 2026), and the lab continues to recruit senior international talent, including via the Choose France for Science program.

Name

ICube Strasbourg

Legal name

ICube UMR 7357 - Laboratoire des sciences de l'ingénieur, de l'informatique et de l'imagerie

Website

https://icube.unistra.fr

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

ICube Strasbourg (UMR 7357) is a French public research laboratory jointly supervised by Université de Strasbourg, CNRS, INSA Strasbourg, and ENGEES, employing roughly 750 researchers across 17 teams focused on imaging science, AI, photonics, robotics, and environmental monitoring, with commercialization via spin-offs and joint industry labs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Research and Development Services

NAICS

Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Research and Development in Nanotechnology (541713), Medical and Diagnostic Laboratories (6215)

SIC

Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Instrumentation, Controls & Automation Engineering Consulting (BPAHAIAM)

Keywords

• Medical imaging research
• Computer vision AI
• Robotics healthcare
• Photonics engineering
• Remote sensing platforms

Headquarters

HQ city

Strasbourg

HQ country

France

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Operations

Revenue model

1. Public Research Funding: Core funding from partner institutions: University of Strasbourg, CNRS, INSA Strasbourg, and ENGEES
2. Competitive Research Grants: Funding from ANR (French National Research Agency), Horizon Europe, Interreg programs, Region Grand Est, and France 2030 investments
3. Technology Transfer and Licensing: Revenue from technology licensing via CONECTUS, including deals with startups like TheraSonic, TERDEPOL, and La Turbine Française

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

ICube is a public Joint Research Unit (UMR 7357) that conducts multidisciplinary research at the interface of engineering, computer science, and imaging. It operates seven specialized technology platforms (BiGEst-ICube, C3Fab, GAIA, Inetlab, IRIS, MechaniCS, SERTIT) and incubates spin-off companies by licensing technologies in medical imaging, photonics, robotics, AI, and environmental monitoring to industry via CONECTUS.

Product overview

ICube UMR 7357 is a multidisciplinary research laboratory at the University of Strasbourg, not a commercial product company. The laboratory operates seven specialized technology platforms (BiGEst-ICube, C3Fab, GAIA, Inetlab, IRIS, MechaniCS, SERTIT) that provide research services and infrastructure rather than commercial products. The platforms support research in bioinformatics, electronics/photonics, computer graphics/AI, IoT networks, medical imaging/robotics, mechanics/biomechanics, and remote sensing. The laboratory also incubates spin-off companies including La Turbine Française (micro-hydropower), TheraSonic (brain drug delivery medical devices), TERDEPOL (soil remediation), and Optiive (AR optics), which commercialize technologies developed at ICube. These spin-offs represent the laboratory's technology transfer activities rather than ICube's own product portfolio.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• BiGEst-ICube (Bioinformatique et Génomique Est) Bioinformatics and genomics platform providing computational tools and expertise for genomic data analysis and biological research, serving academic and industry research clients.

Quantifiable outcome

• More than 600 publications annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability10 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Université de StrasbourgcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary institutional partner hosting the laboratory, providing core academic infrastructure, researchers, and administrative support.
• CNRScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench National Center for Scientific Research, major national research organization providing researchers and funding support.
• INSA StrasbourgcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational Institute of Applied Sciences Strasbourg, engineering school providing student body and research expertise.
• ENGEEScoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational School of Engineering of Water and Environment, contributing environmental engineering expertise.
• INRIAmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation, partner in digital sciences research.
• INSERMmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFrench National Institute of Health and Medical Research, partner for health-related research projects.
• IHU StrasbourgmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInstitute Hospitalo-Universitaire Strasbourg, specialized medical research institute for healthcare innovation.
• Hôpitaux Universitaires de StrasbourgmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversity Hospitals of Strasbourg, providing clinical research environment and healthcare data.
• CONECTUScoreTechnology or IntegrationTechnology transfer company managing licensing of ICube innovations to industry, including exclusive licenses with startups.
• Region Grand EstmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional council providing funding and support for regional research and innovation initiatives.
• Institut Carnot TSNmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCarnot Institute for Telecom and Digital Society, structuring industry research partnerships.
• Interreg Rhin SupérieurmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEuropean cross-border cooperation program supporting transnational research projects including HelpMeWalk, HEDRAF, EMPOWER#IoT, IMARA, VitiSense, QUANTUM-PRECISION, FLEX-E, 2PhaseEx, IMAGINE-STIM.
• OptiivemajorTechnology or IntegrationSpin-off specializing in advanced optical components for augmented reality, creating bridges between fundamental research and industrial applications.
• IREPA LASERmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint laboratory LaserSurf for laser surface functionalization research with industrial applications.
• La Turbine Française (LTF)majorTechnology or IntegrationStartup commercializing micro-turbine technology developed at ICube for powering water network sensors.
• TheraSonicmajorTechnology or IntegrationStartup developing medical device technology licensed exclusively for treating brain diseases.
• TERDEPOLmajorTechnology or IntegrationStartup deploying soil depollution technology developed in partnership with ICube and ITES.
• ChromatotecminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint laboratory 'AnaVOC' for miniaturized and portable gas analysis instruments.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT): German public research university with strong groups in computer vision, robotics, photonics and medical technology. Comparable in translational orientation, industry partnerships and cross-disciplinary engineering-plus-CS structure.
• Technical University of Munich (TUM): Large German public research university with leading groups in medical imaging, surgical robotics, AI and photonics. Comparable in multidisciplinary research breadth and industry partnership intensity.
• MIT CSAIL: US university-affiliated research laboratory covering computer vision, robotics, AI and medical image computing. Comparable in scale, academic-industry mix and broad imaging-and-intelligence research portfolio.
• ETH Zurich (Computer Science Department): Swiss public university with internationally leading research in computer vision, robotics, medical imaging and biomedical engineering. Comparable in multidisciplinary engineering-plus-computer-science orientation and publication intensity.
• INRIA: France's national institute for digital science research. Directly comparable as a publicly funded French research organisation covering computer vision, AI, robotics and medical imaging—overlapping several of ICube's teams and platforms.
• LS2N (Laboratoire des Sciences du Numérique de Nantes): French CNRS UMR combining computer science, automation and signal processing. Comparable in size band, public-research status and focus on robotics, image processing and software-intensive systems.
• EPFL (School of Computer and Communication Sciences / College of Engineering): Swiss public university with internationally recognised research in computer vision, medical imaging, robotics and microengineering. Comparable as a multidisciplinary imaging-centred research environment producing both publications and spin-offs.
• Fraunhofer Institute: Germany's applied-research network with institutes (e.g. IPA, IZM, IOSB) covering medical imaging, robotics, photonics and production technology. Highly comparable in applied-research orientation, industry partnership model and translational output.
• Max Planck Institute for Informatics: German publicly funded research institute with strong groups in computer vision, machine learning and biomedical image analysis. Closely comparable in academic culture, publication output and focus on imaging-centric computer science.

Broad incumbents

• CEA (Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives): Larger French public research organisation with broad applied-research programmes in microelectronics, photonics, AI and healthcare. Comparable in funding model and translational research approach but operates at much greater scale than ICube.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@ICube-Strasbourg
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/icube-strasbourg

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about ICube Strasbourg