MiDiagnostics, a spinout of Imec and Johns Hopkins University, has raised funding for its product development and manufacturing plans.
MiDiagnostics, a Belgium-based lab-on-a-chip developer leveraging research from Johns Hopkins University and Imec, has completed a €14m ($15.4m) round featuring private investors, including Rudi Pauwels, family office VMF Invest and unnamed existing backers.
Founded in 2015, MiDiagnostics has devised a silicon chip that employs nanofluidics to detect small molecules such as cells and proteins for medical and research testing without the need for pumps or valves.
The technology is expected to provide quick and cost-effective diagnostics across multiple disease indications, particularly in atypical care settings such as homes and remote or developing communities.
MiDiagnostics’ chip is currently being evaluated by US space agency Nasa in a simulation of zero-gravity environments, and could also enable comprehensive disease monitoring during pandemics such as coronavirus.
MiDiagnostics will spend the capital on product development as it looks to ramp up operations ahead of industrial-scale manufacturing.
The spinout has not announced full details of earlier funding although both Johns Hopkins University and Imec were described as existing investors, as were Flanders government-owned investment fund PMV and private investors Marc Coucke and Michel Akkermans.
