Life science startup Collimate Health has completed an oversubscribed seed financing round of six million euros. Investors include VP Venture Partners, Positron, Xista Science Ventures, the High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), and Caesar. With the capital, the company plans to develop a first clinical prototype and gather additional preclinical data.
Collimate Health is working on microbeam radiation therapy for cancer treatment. Unlike conventional radiotherapy, the approach uses extremely narrow beams in the micrometer range and higher radiation doses. According to the startup, the treated tumors trigger a stronger immune response against cancer cells. At the same time, the temporary channels created by the radiation are designed to enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy and immunotherapy. The technology should be applicable in patients for the first time within the next three years.
Clinical prototype as next milestone
Collimate Health emerged as a venture-build project of VP Venture Partners. Founders Stefan Bartzsch, Johanna Winter, and Hans Maria Heÿn developed the underlying technology together with an interdisciplinary team over several years. The company received support from the Technical University of Munich (TUM), the TUM Klinikum rechts der Isar, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, and other research and clinical institutions.
Hans Maria Heÿn, co-founder and CEO of Collimate Health, says:
“What Stefan Bartzsch, Johanna Winter, and the interdisciplinary team have achieved through years of academic research is truly extraordinary. Miniaturizing the medical beam guidance of a synchrotron into a system with a footprint of less than 10 square meters is a real deeptech moonshot with the potential to fundamentally change cancer treatment.”
The investors are also convinced. Valentin Piëch, managing director of VP Venture Partners, says:
“What makes this technology so compelling is not only its potential to redefine radiation therapy, but also the possibilities it could open up in combination with immunotherapy and other cancer treatments.”
And Stephan Huber, venture partner at Xista Science Venture, adds:
“Collimate Health combines world-class science with the ambition necessary to scale a global deeptech company that dares to challenge decades-old paradigms in a central area of cancer treatment. Their technology has the potential to make a decisive difference for millions of severely ill patients worldwide.”
