{"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":"2026-06-10T20:51:37","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T18:51:37","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 receives seven-figure seed funding and EIC-Transition project funding for novel holographic endoscopes"},"content":{"rendered":"

DeepEn GmbH<\/a>, a pio\u00adneer in holo\u00adgraphic endoscopy, has suc\u00adcess\u00adfully closed a seven-digit seed financ\u00ading round with 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\u00adiza\u00adtion of the world\u2019s thinnest microscopy instru\u00adments, which will open up new pos\u00adsi\u00adbil\u00adi\u00adties for neu\u00adro\u00adscience and bio\u00admed\u00adical research. <\/p>\n

In addi\u00adtion, the NEUROGATE project, a col\u00adlab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adtion between the start-up and three Euro\u00adpean research insti\u00adtutes, received fund\u00ading of 2.5 mil\u00adlion euros from the Euro\u00adpean Inno\u00adva\u00adtion Coun\u00adcil (EIC) Tran\u00adsi\u00adtion Pro\u00adgram in Jan\u00adu\u00adary 2025. Together, the con\u00adsor\u00adtium aims to fur\u00adther develop the min\u00adi\u00admally inva\u00adsive tech\u00adnol\u00adogy for a vari\u00adety of new applications. <\/p>\n

Investment in neurophotonics innovation <\/strong><\/h3>\n

Deep\u00adEn\u2019s endo\u00adscopes use advanced algo\u00adrithms and holo\u00adgraphic tech\u00adniques to pre\u00adcisely con\u00adtrol laser light as it passes through a sin\u00adgle opti\u00adcal fiber. Once the fiber is inserted into an organ such as the brain, it can focus the light beam to a clean focal point, enabling laser scan\u00adning microscopy in pre\u00advi\u00adously inac\u00adces\u00adsi\u00adble deep tis\u00adsue regions. The inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive tech\u00adnol\u00adogy was hon\u00adored with the Euro\u00adpean Microscopy Soci\u00adety\u2019s Life Sci\u00adences Award 2024. <\/p>\n

Pro\u00adto\u00adtypes of these 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 launch its first prod\u00aduct, the Neu\u00adroDeep\u00ae in vivo microscopy sys\u00adtem, as well as develop the next gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion of holo\u00adgraphic endo\u00adscope tech\u00adnol\u00adogy for even more advanced applications. <\/p>\n

With bm|t, MBG Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen and Sparkasse Jena-Saale-Hol\u00adz\u00adland, DeepEn has gained three expe\u00adri\u00adenced investors with valu\u00adable exper\u00adtise in the opti\u00adcal ecosys\u00adtem of Cen\u00adtral Ger\u00admany. \u201cWe warmly wel\u00adcome our new investors and thank them for their con\u00adfi\u00addence in our team and our tech\u00adnol\u00adogy,\u201d says Tur\u00adtaev. \u201cTogether, we are pur\u00adsu\u00ading our vision of enabling 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 <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The foun\u00adda\u00adtions of holo\u00adgraphic endoscopy were devel\u00adoped from 2011 onwards by Prof. Dr. Tomas \u010ci\u017em\u00e1r, a later co-founder of DeepEn, 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\u00adtor\u00adate. In 2017, the sci\u00aden\u00adtists moved to the Leib\u00adniz Insti\u00adtute of Pho\u00adtonic Tech\u00adnol\u00adogy (Leib\u00adniz IPHT) in Jena, where they con\u00adtin\u00adued their work as part of the pres\u00adti\u00adgious ERC Con\u00adsol\u00adida\u00adtor Grant LIFEGATE. <\/p>\n

Com\u00admer\u00adcial\u00adiza\u00adtion began in 2020 through the EXIST pro\u00adgram for research trans\u00adfer fund\u00ading from the Ger\u00adman Fed\u00aderal Min\u00adistry of Eco\u00adnom\u00adics and Cli\u00admate Pro\u00adtec\u00adtion, which led to the spin-off of DeepEn GmbH in early 2024. \u201cThis com\u00adpany is a prime exam\u00adple of how top-class research, which has led to out\u00adstand\u00ading pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtions, is quickly turned into a mar\u00adketable 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 one of the 25 win\u00adners of the Falling Walls Ven\u00adture Cup in fall 2024 and received the Thuringian Inno\u00adva\u00adtion Award for young companies.<\/p>\n

European cooperation for technology transfer <\/strong><\/h3>\n

The poten\u00adtial of holo\u00adgraphic endoscopy has also been rec\u00adog\u00adnized in Brus\u00adsels. In Jan\u00adu\u00adary 2025, the NEUROGATE coop\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion project received fund\u00ading of 2.5 mil\u00adlion euros from the Euro\u00adpean Inno\u00adva\u00adtion Coun\u00adcil (EIC) Tran\u00adsi\u00adtion as part of Hori\u00adzon Europe. \u201cWith this project, we are trans\u00adform\u00ading the lat\u00adest sci\u00aden\u00adtific dis\u00adcov\u00ader\u00adies into valu\u00adable solu\u00adtions for users. In this way, we enable pre\u00adcise mon\u00adi\u00adtor\u00ading of neu\u00adronal activ\u00adity under nat\u00adural con\u00addi\u00adtions with unprece\u00addented accu\u00adracy,\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 (ISI) of the Czech Acad\u00ademy of Sci\u00adences in Brno and Neuro-Elec\u00adtron\u00adics Research Flan\u00adders (NERF) in Bel\u00adgium. The inter\u00addis\u00adci\u00adpli\u00adnary research cen\u00adter for neu\u00adrotech\u00adnol\u00adogy is sup\u00adported by imec, the Life Sci\u00adences Insti\u00adtute VIB and the KU Leu\u00adven. \u201cWe look for\u00adward to con\u00adtribut\u00ading our exper\u00adtise to the fur\u00adther devel\u00adop\u00adment of neu\u00adrotech\u00adno\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal appli\u00adca\u00adtions in order 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 from NERF. <\/p>\n

The investors <\/strong><\/h3>\n

About bm|t: <\/strong>bm|t, based in Erfurt, 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 445 mil\u00adlion euros, which invest in inno\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive com\u00adpa\u00adnies in almost all sec\u00adtors and devel\u00adop\u00adment phases \u2014 whether in the start-up and growth phase or for com\u00adpany suc\u00adces\u00adsions. Fur\u00adther infor\u00adma\u00adtion can be found at: www.bm\u2011t.de<\/a> <\/p>\n

About Sparkasse Jena-Saale-Hol\u00adz\u00adland: <\/strong>Sparkasse Jena-Saale-Hol\u00adz\u00adland has been rooted in the region since 1828 and offers finan\u00adcial ser\u00advices, advice and fund\u00ading for com\u00adpa\u00adnies and com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties. As the largest regional finan\u00adcial part\u00adner, it improves the qual\u00adity of life through dig\u00adi\u00adtal\u00adiza\u00adtion, financ\u00ading and pub\u00adlic pro\u00adgrams. The Sparkasse actively sup\u00adports the econ\u00adomy, edu\u00adca\u00adtion, sport and cul\u00adture in the region. It pro\u00admotes inno\u00adva\u00adtion by sup\u00adport\u00ading start-ups such as DeepEn GmbH and, together with the Busi\u00adness Angels Club Jena e.V., has cre\u00adated a plat\u00adform that con\u00adnects start-ups with pri\u00advate investors in order to strengthen the regional start-up ecosys\u00adtem. More infor\u00adma\u00adtion: www.s\u2011jena.de<\/a> <\/p>\n

About MBG Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen: <\/strong>Mit\u00adtel\u00adst\u00e4ndis\u00adche Beteili\u00adgungs\u00adge\u00adsellschaft Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen mbH (MBG Th\u00fcrin\u00adgen) is a strong and reli\u00adable part\u00adner for small and medium-sized enter\u00adprises. It offers mez\u00adza\u00adnine and equity invest\u00adments to strengthen the equity base of com\u00adpa\u00adnies for start-up, con\u00adsol\u00adi\u00adda\u00adtion or suc\u00adces\u00adsion plan\u00adning. This gives com\u00adpa\u00adnies a solid basis for sus\u00adtain\u00adable growth. More infor\u00adma\u00adtion: www.mbg-thueringen.de<\/a> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

DeepEn GmbH, a pio\u00adneer in holo\u00adgraphic endoscopy, has suc\u00adcess\u00adfully com\u00adpleted a seven-fig\u00adure seed financ\u00ading round with 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":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16721\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18189,"href":"https:\/\/www.bm-t.de\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16721\/revisions\/18189"}],"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}]}}