Biotech start-up Amplifold, based in Martinsried, Germany, has completed an oversubscribed seed financing round of €5 million for the market launch of its highly sensitive lateral flow diagnostics. The start-up combines DNA origami nanotechnology with cost-effective lateral flow assays (LFAs). Lead investors are Matterwave Ventures und XISTA Science Ventures.
“Affordability meets Accuracy”: Amplifold GmbH, a spin-off from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU), has closed an oversubscribed seed round of €5 million to industrialize its DNA origami-based signal amplification platform for lateral flow assays (LFAs). The round is co-led by Matterwave Ventures and XISTA Science Ventures, with participation from Bayern Kapital, b2venture and Becker Ventures (part of the Labor Becker Group).
The funds will be used to expand product development and regulatory activities, as well as for the IVDR approval of Amplifold's first in vitro diagnostic product in Europe. Amplifold will also relocate to the Innovation and Start-up Center for Biotechnology (IZB) in Martinsried, one of Europe's leading life sciences start-up centers, which offers excellent infrastructure and proximity to world-class academic and clinical partners.
Amplifold’s technology was developed by Dr. Maximilian Urban and colleagues in the lab of Prof. Liedl, and published in a recent Nature Communications paper. They demonstrated that DNA-origami nanostructures can boost the sensitivity of standard LFAs by up to two orders of magnitude while preserving their simplicity and low cost. The company’s vision is captured in its slogan: “Affordability meets Accuracy”. With support from GoBio Initial, the Medical Valley Award, and EXIST Forschungstransfer, the team successfully realized their goal of combining high sensitivity with low-cost testing.
“Lateral flow tests have transformed access to diagnostics, but their sensitivity has traditionally lagged behind central lab systems,” said Dr. Maximilian Urban, Amplifold co-founder, co-inventor and managing director. “DNA-origami signal amplification allows low-cost rapid tests to approach instrument-level sensitivity without changing the basic format.”
Dr. Enzo Kopperger, co-founder and managing director, added:
“What makes Amplifold unique is that we can deliver up to roughly 100-fold higher analytical sensitivity at essentially the same cost of goods as conventional LFAs. Our architecture is designed to plug into existing manufacturing workflows, which means partners can rapidly upgrade their assays instead of redeveloping their product lines from scratch.”
The biggest weakness of lateral flow tests has always been their lack of sensitivity, as the COVID-19 pandemic has clearly demonstrated, and this has held back the technology until now. Amplifold addresses precisely this issue with a DNA nanotechnology approach that increases sensitivity while retaining the simple format that makes rapid tests so practical and scalable.
Amplifold sees itself exceptionally well positioned, with a truly disruptive technology, a strong interdisciplinary team, and a syndicate of investors who understand both deep tech and diagnostics. The management team will be complemented by Dr. Federico Bürsgens, who has held senior leadership roles in the in vitro diagnostics (IVD) space for more than 15 years and will join the company in 2026 as CEO.
Benedikt Kronberger of Matterwave and Stephan Huber of XISTA Ventures will both join Amplifold’s Board of Directors.