Amplifold, a spin-off of LMU München, closes an oversubscribed seed funding round of five million euros. Matterwave Ventures and Xista Science Ventures lead the consortium, with Bayern Kapital, b2venture, and Becker Ventures also participating. The team is moving into the Innovation and Founder Center for Biotechnology (IZB) in Martinsried, where it will expand product development and regulatory activities – with the goal of bringing the first in vitro diagnostic product through European IVDR certification.
The foundation of the technology is a DNA origami approach, recently described in Nature Communications. The nanostructures significantly increase the sensitivity of classical lateral-flow assays (LFAs) without changing the simple, cost-effective test format. This addresses a central challenge for Amplifold: the low sensitivity of many rapid tests, which in the rapidly growing point-of-care diagnostics market has led to misdiagnosis and additional PCR tests.
“Lateral-flow tests have revolutionized access to diagnostics, but their sensitivity has traditionally lagged behind central laboratory systems. DNA origami signal amplification enables cost-effective rapid tests that achieve instrument-level sensitivity without changing the basic format”,
explains Maximilian Urban, co-founder, co-inventor, and CEO of Amplifold.
Enzo Kopperger, also co-founder and CEO, adds:
“What makes Amplifold unique is that we can offer up to 100-fold higher analytical sensitivity at essentially the same manufacturing cost as conventional LFAs. Our architecture is designed to integrate into existing manufacturing workflows, allowing partners to quickly upgrade their assays rather than rebuild their product lines from scratch.”
Significance for the diagnostics market
The technology emerged from the nanoengineering laboratory of LMU Professor Tim Liedl. He puts the development into perspective:
“In recent years, our group has worked to transform DNA origami from a nice scientific concept into a robust toolkit for nanotechnology. The Amplifold team was instrumental in translating these advances into real diagnostic applications. It’s very gratifying to see a technology developed and nurtured in our lab now finding its way into the clinic and market with the support of a strong investor consortium.”
Investors also emphasize the market potential. Benedikt Kronberger, partner at Matterwave Ventures, says:
“Amplifold is exactly the kind of industrial deeptech company we’re looking for: a fundamental breakthrough applied to a huge, existing market. The fact that this round was significantly oversubscribed speaks to the quality of the team and the commercial clarity of the opportunity. We’re very excited to support Amplifold and join the board.”
And Monika Steger, managing director at Bayern Kapital, also sees a technological breakthrough:
“Amplifold’s DNA origami technology has the potential to fundamentally transform diagnostic rapid tests – toward laboratory accuracy in minutes, up to 100-fold higher analytical sensitivity, and directly at the point of care. As a long-term partner of innovative med- and deeptech pioneers, we’re delighted to walk this path together and actively help shape the next generation of diagnostics.”
