{"id":16721,"date":"2025-02-18T19:34:24","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T18:34:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/?p=16721"},"modified":"2025-02-19T13:23:17","modified_gmt":"2025-02-19T12:23:17","slug":"deepen-secures-seed-round","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/2025-en\/deepen-secures-seed-round\/","title":{"rendered":"DeepEn GmbH Secures Seven-Figure Seed Round and Prestigious EIC-Transition Grant for Novel Holographic Endoscopes"},"content":{"rendered":"

DeepEn GmbH<\/a>, a pio\u00adneer in holo\u00adgraphic endoscopy tech\u00adnol\u00adogy, has suc\u00adcess\u00adfully closed a seven-fig\u00adure seed financ\u00ading round from the investors bm|t, MBG Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen, and Sparkasse Jena-Saale-Hol\u00adz\u00adland. This invest\u00adment will accel\u00ader\u00adate the devel\u00adop\u00adment and com\u00admer\u00adcial\u00adi\u00adsa\u00adtion of the world\u2019s thinnest microscopy tools designed to advance neu\u00adro\u00adscience and bio\u00admed\u00adical research.<\/p>\n

In addi\u00adtion, NEUROGATE, a col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion between the startup and three Euro\u00adpean insti\u00adtutes, has secured \u20ac2.5 mil\u00adlion of fund\u00ading from the Euro\u00adpean Inno\u00adva\u00adtion Coun\u00adcil (EIC) Tran\u00adsi\u00adtion Pro\u00adgramme in Jan\u00adu\u00adary 2025. Together, the con\u00adsor\u00adtium aims to advance the min\u00adi\u00admally inva\u00adsive tech\u00adnol\u00adogy to a vari\u00adety of new applications.<\/p>\n

Investing in Neurophotonics Innovation<\/h3>\n

DeepEn\u2019s endo\u00adscopes use advanced algo\u00adrithms and holo\u00adgraphic tech\u00adniques to con\u00adtrol laser light as it trav\u00adels through a sin\u00adgle opti\u00adcal glass fibre. When the fibre is inserted into an organ like the brain, it can bun\u00addle the light beam into a clean focus point, enabling laser scan\u00adning microscopy in pre\u00advi\u00adously inac\u00adces\u00adsi\u00adble, deep tis\u00adsue regions. This inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive tech\u00adnol\u00adogy has been endorsed by the 2024 Life Sci\u00adences Award of the Euro\u00adpean Microscopy Society.<\/p>\n

Pro\u00adto\u00adtypes of the microscopy devices have already been used to image neu\u00adrons and can\u00adcer cells in ani\u00admal mod\u00adels. With the invest\u00adment, the DeepEn team, led by CEO Dr Sergey Tur\u00adtaev, plans to finalise and launch its first prod\u00aduct, the Neu\u00adroDeep\u00ae in-vivo microscopy sys\u00adtem, while accel\u00ader\u00adat\u00ading the devel\u00adop\u00adment of next-gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion holo\u00adgraphic endo\u00adscope tech\u00adnol\u00adogy for even more advanced applications.
\nWith bm|t, MBG Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen, and Sparkasse Jena-Saale-Hol\u00adz\u00adland, DeepEn has gained three sea\u00adsoned investors with valu\u00adable expe\u00adri\u00adence in the opti\u00adcal ecosys\u00adtem in cen\u00adtral Ger\u00admany. \u201cWe warmly wel\u00adcome our new invest\u00adment part\u00adners on board and want to thank them for their trust in DeepEn\u2019s team and tech\u00adnol\u00adogy,\u201d says Tur\u00adtaev. \u201cTogether, we will pur\u00adsue our vision of enabling the devel\u00adop\u00adment of inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive diag\u00adnos\u00adtic and ther\u00ada\u00adpeu\u00adtic approaches for neu\u00adronal dis\u00adeases through our pow\u00ader\u00adful imag\u00ading tools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Successful Transfer of Cutting-Edge Research<\/h3>\n

Start\u00ading in 2011, Prof. Dr Tomas \u010ci\u017em\u00e1r, a later DeepEn co-founder, worked on the holo\u00adgraphic endo\u00adscope tech\u00adnol\u00adogy at the Uni\u00adver\u00adsity of St. Andrews and the Uni\u00adver\u00adsity of Dundee in Scot\u00adland. In 2016, Sergey Tur\u00adtaev joined the research group dur\u00ading his doc\u00adtoral stud\u00adies. In 2017, the sci\u00aden\u00adtists relo\u00adcated to the Leib\u00adniz Insti\u00adtute of Pho\u00adtonic Tech\u00adnol\u00adogy (Leib\u00adniz IPHT) in Jena, Ger\u00admany, where they con\u00adtin\u00adued their work, funded by the pres\u00adti\u00adgious ERC con\u00adsol\u00adida\u00adtor grant LIFEGATE.<\/p>\n

In 2020, DeepEn\u2019s com\u00admer\u00adcial\u00adi\u00adsa\u00adtion jour\u00adney began thanks to the EXIST Trans\u00adfer of Research pro\u00adgram from the Ger\u00adman Min\u00adistry for Eco\u00adnomic Affairs and Cli\u00admate Action, lead\u00ading to a spin-out of DeepEn in early 2024. \u201cThis com\u00adpany is a prime exam\u00adple of how high-qual\u00adity research,which has led to out\u00adstand\u00ading pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtions, is rapidly trans\u00adlated into a solid prod\u00aduct,\u201d says Prof. Dr J\u00fcr\u00adgen Popp, Sci\u00aden\u00adtific Direc\u00adtor of Leib\u00adniz IPHT. \u201cThe team\u2019s speed and ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion are impressive.\u201d<\/p>\n

DeepEn was among the 25 Falling Walls Ven\u00adture Cup win\u00adners in autumn 2024 and was awarded the Thuringian Inno\u00adva\u00adtion Prize for young companies.<\/p>\n

European Cooperation for Technology Translation<\/h3>\n

The poten\u00adtial of holo\u00adgraphic endoscopy has also been recog\u00adnised in Brus\u00adsels. In Jan\u00adu\u00adary 2025, the col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtive project NEUROGATE was awarded \u20ac2.5 mil\u00adlion by the Euro\u00adpean Inno\u00adva\u00adtion Coun\u00adcil (EIC) Tran\u00adsi\u00adtion under Hori\u00adzon Europe. \u201cWith this project, we are trans\u00adform\u00ading the most recent sci\u00aden\u00adtific dis\u00adcov\u00ader\u00adies into valu\u00adable solu\u00adtions for users, allow\u00ading mon\u00adi\u00adtor\u00ading of neu\u00adronal activ\u00adity under nat\u00adural con\u00addi\u00adtions with unprece\u00addented pre\u00adci\u00adsion,\u201d says Prof. \u010ci\u017em\u00e1r.<\/p>\n

In addi\u00adtion to Leib\u00adniz IPHT and DeepEn, two inter\u00adna\u00adtional part\u00adners are involved in NEUROGATE: the Insti\u00adtute of Sci\u00aden\u00adtific Instru\u00adments of the Czech Acad\u00ademy of Sci\u00adences (ISI) in Brno and Neuro-Elec\u00adtron\u00adics Research Flan\u00adders (NERF) in Bel\u00adgium. NERF, an inter\u00addis\u00adci\u00adpli\u00adnary research cen\u00adtre for neu\u00adrotech\u00adnol\u00adogy, is sup\u00adported by imec, the life sci\u00adences insti\u00adtute VIB, and KU Leu\u00adven. \u201cWe\u2019re excited to apply our exper\u00adtise in advanc\u00ading neu\u00adrotech\u00adnol\u00adogy appli\u00adca\u00adtions to bet\u00adter under\u00adstand the brain and develop new ther\u00ada\u00adpeu\u00adtic strate\u00adgies for neu\u00adro\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal dis\u00adeases,\u201d says Sebas\u00adt\u00adian Haesler of NERF.<\/p>\n

The Investors<\/h3>\n

About bm|t:<\/strong> Based in Erfurt, bm|t is the lead\u00ading address for cor\u00adpo\u00adrate invest\u00adments in Thuringia. bm|t cur\u00adrently man\u00adages twelve funds with a total vol\u00adume of around EUR 445 mil\u00adlion, which invest in inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive com\u00adpa\u00adnies in almost all sec\u00adtors and in all phases of cor\u00adpo\u00adrate devel\u00adop\u00adment \u2014 both in the start-up and growth phases or in com\u00adpany suc\u00adces\u00adsion sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions. Fur\u00adther infor\u00adma\u00adtion is avail\u00adable at: www.bm\u2011t.de<\/a><\/p>\n

About Sparkasse Jena-Saale-Hol\u00adz\u00adland:<\/strong> Since 1828, Sparkasse has been rooted in the region, pro\u00advid\u00ading finan\u00adcial ser\u00advices, advi\u00adsory sup\u00adport, and fund\u00ading for busi\u00adnesses and com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties. As the largest regional finan\u00adcial part\u00adner, it enhances qual\u00adity of life through dig\u00adi\u00adtal\u00adi\u00adsa\u00adtion, financ\u00ading, and pub\u00adlic pro\u00adgrammes. Sparkasse actively sup\u00adports the region\u2019s econ\u00adomy, edu\u00adca\u00adtion, sports, and cul\u00adture. It fos\u00adters inno\u00adva\u00adtion by back\u00ading start-ups like DeepEn GmbH and, together with the Busi\u00adness Angels Club Jena e.V., has cre\u00adated a plat\u00adform con\u00adnect\u00ading start-ups with pri\u00advate investors to strengthen the regional start-up ecosys\u00adtem. Fur\u00adther infor\u00adma\u00adtion is avail\u00adable at: www.s\u2011jena.de<\/a><\/p>\n

About MBG Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen:<\/strong> As a strong and reli\u00adable part\u00adner, Mit\u00adtel\u00adst\u00e4ndis\u00adche Beteili\u00adgungs\u00adge\u00adsellschaft Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen mbH offers small and medium-sized enter\u00adprises mez\u00adza\u00adnine and equity invest\u00adments to strengthen equity cap\u00adi\u00adtal for start-ups, con\u00adsol\u00adi\u00adda\u00adtion, or suc\u00adces\u00adsions. Com\u00adpa\u00adnies part\u00adner\u00ading with MBG thus have a sound basis for solid devel\u00adop\u00adment and sus\u00adtain\u00adable growth. Fur\u00adther infor\u00adma\u00adtion is avail\u00adable at: www.mbg-thueringen.de<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DeepEn GmbH, a pio\u00adneer in holo\u00adgraphic endoscopy tech\u00adnol\u00adogy, has suc\u00adcess\u00adfully closed a seven-fig\u00adure seed financ\u00ading round from the investors bm|t, MBG Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen, and Sparkasse Jena-Saale-Holzland.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":16726,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[262],"tags":[176,177,210,159,168,171,172],"class_list":["post-16721","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-2025-en","tag-bm-t-en","tag-bmt-en","tag-investeepartner","tag-investment-en","tag-startup-fonds-en","tag-thuringia","tag-thuringia-founder-fund"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16721","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16721"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16721\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16721"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16721"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16721"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}