Venneos, founded as a spin-off from the Max Planck Society, is developing a siliconchip-based imaging system for the analysis of biological cells. The system builds upon an innovative measurement approach that allows customers to detect cellular changes which remain invisible with other technologies. The automated parallel analysis of up to several thousand cells makes experiments more objective, reproducible and reliable. In addition, the microscopy-like visualization of the results enables an intuitive interpretation. Thanks to the compact size, the system can easily be integrated into daily lab work.

For the seed round of 1 million euros, the Venneos team acquired funding from a consortium of business angels from Stuttgart and family offices, the High-Tech Gründerfonds and Max Planck Society. "With the support of these financially strong investors, we can work together to establish a new standard for cell analysis", states David Wehner, managing director and co-founder.

At the moment, the company is cooperating with pilot customers to develop the prototype further. "The projects with pilot customers prove that there is a demand for our products in academia as well as in the pharmaceutical industry", explains cofounder Jonas Lehmann. For further development, Venneos is currently looking for employees at the intersection of physics, electrical engineering, computer science and biology.

"We are happy, that a strong investor consortium could be put together for this disruptive technology in the area of cell analysis", says Marco Winzer from High-Tech Gründerfonds. With its investors, the company has established a solid basis for further funding rounds. Dr. Florian Kirschenhofer, Startup Manager at Max Planck Innovation, says, „We are happy, that Venneos GmbH could win two very experienced investors, the consortium of business angels from Stuttgart and family offices as well as the HTGF. With their support, the promising technology from the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry can unfold its full potential."

Support from BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg GmbH

BIOPRO Baden-Württemberg helps start-ups with advice, access to funding and many other issues. It has assisted Venneos GmbH in a number of ways, including providing an EXI High-tech Start-up Voucher. The voucher gives potential business founders in Baden-Württemberg access to a two-tier consultation programme run by BIOPRO in cooperation with the project management organisation bwcon. The programme is aimed at people wishing to set up businesses in the high-tech sector, and BIOPRO deals specifically with life sciences business foundations. The vouchers are sponsored by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Finance and Economics with the help of funding from the state and the European Social Fund (EXI High-tech Start-up Voucher).