The Würzburg-based deep-tech start-up NanoStruct has closed a €2.6 million seed financing round. The lead investors are HTGF, Bayern Kapital, and the Auxxo Female Catalyst Fund. NanoStruct’s technology reduces the detection time for dangerous pathogens such as Listeria and Salmonella in food from 2–3 days to just a few hours—through nanostructured sensor chips and AI.
NanoStruct GmbH was founded by Dr. Henriette Maaß, Enno Schatz, and Kai Leibfried. The start-up develops nanostructured sensor chips for the rapid identification of dangerous pathogens in food within just a few hours. The company is now receiving more than €2.6 million in fresh capital for this purpose.
Detecting dangerous bacteria in food currently takes several days—too long to ensure that harmful pathogens do not reach consumers. At the same time, regulatory requirements are increasing with the aim of strengthening consumer protection. As a result, demand is high among food manufacturers and analytical laboratories for accelerated and automated analysis.
NanoStruct has developed a process that shortens detection to just a few hours by combining an optical measurement method with nanotechnology, biotechnology, and machine learning - for the food market, this represents a complete rethinking of microbial analysis. Results can be obtained the same day, recalls can be avoided, food waste reduced, and food safety increased.
The funding is intended to enable pilot projects in the food analysis market, the development of a structured sales organization, and the expansion of the team. The round is led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Bayern Kapital, and the AUXXO Female Catalyst Fund. The financing builds on previous funding from the BMWE and the European Union.
“With HTGF, Bayern Kapital, and AUXXO, we have found exactly the partners we need for this next step: experienced, well connected, and convinced by our vision. Now we are bringing rapid bacterial analytics to the food industry,” said Dr. Henriette Maaß, CEO of NanoStruct.
Beyond this, NanoStruct’s technology also has the potential to accelerate and simplify processes in other areas such as veterinary and human diagnostics, as well as bacterial monitoring in sensitive production environments.