BioRiver Boost! since 2014

Impressions and winners

A groundbreaking idea and technical know-how are no guarantee for the success of a start-up company. Direct contact with decision-makers and the shortest possible routes to market leaders are important for successfully placing a new product or sensational technology on the market. BioRiver Boost! offers young companies and start-ups the chance to present themselves in front of a jury of experts.

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Impressions & Winners BioRiver Boost! 2014 – 2023

Winner 2023
1st Place | Akribion Genomics, Zwingenberg

Founding team: Dr. Michael Krohn, Co-CEO Lukas Linnig, Co-CEO Dr. Paul Scholz, Head of R&D Dr. Dirk Sombroek, Head of Strategic Partnerships Dr. Oliver Grünvogel, Chief of Staff

A new class of RNA-targeting cancer therapies using novel CRISPR nucleases.

Contact: oliver.gruenvogel@akribion-genomics.com

 

2nd Place | Plantman, Cologne

Founding team: Dr. Ernesto Llamas (CEO), Prof. Dr. David Vilchez (Research and development), Prof. Dr. Alga Zuccaro (Research and development)

We will translate our preliminary research findings and create a therapeutic protein-based drug to treat Huntington’s disease.

https://www.ceplas.eu/de/forschung/dr-ernesto-llamas/

 

3rd Place | Ningaloo Biosystems, Cologne

Founding team: Dr. Hanns-Martin Schmidt, technical lead; Dr. Herbert Mueller-Hartmann, business lead

We will help biopharma companies reduce costs and improve quality and reliability in the pro-duction of the next generation of life-saving drugs, which are still prohibitively expensive to make.

https://ningaloo.bio

 

Finalists 2023:

EXADEX-INNOV, Nice (France)
Innovative biotherapy against chronic metabolic diseases associated to obesity, based on Beige adipose tissue transplantation.
www.exadex-innov.com

Verdancy, Aachen
Through the combination of two eco-friendly, fully biodegradable co-formulants (1. anchor peptides and 2. microgels), we have developed a targeted, controlled, and rainfast delivery system for (bio)pesticides, offering the potential for creating proprietary PPPs (new generics) and licensing to AgChem companies seeking to improve their crop protection formulations.
https://aachen-proteineers.de/en/greenrelease/

LuminoGen, Aachen
LuminoGen offers new analytical bioassay kits and licences for hormone-, oxidant-, and antioxidant-activity, which are based on bioassays with blue glowing baker’s yeast.
https://luminogen.de/

Phagestack GmbH, Cologne
Phagestack unlocks a new door to the future of bacteriophage based antibiotics.
www.phagestack.com

Perseus Biomics, Tienen (Belgien)
Perseus Biomics addresses the $3B microbiome profiling market with a disruptive new technolgy that enables researchers, clinicians and agronomists to fully tap into the microbiome’s full potential for health and sustainability.
https://www.perseusbiomics.com/

Winner 2022
1st Place | Lumatix Biotech GmbH , Munich

Founding team: Andreas Reichert, Christopher Graf, Fabian Rodewald

Lumatix Biotech produces light-controlled affinity matrices as a superior alternative to Protein A chromatography for antibody purification purposes.
www.lumatix.bio

 

2nd Place | BioThrust , Aachen

Founding team: Patrick Bongartz, Moritz Meyer, Konstantin Kurz

BioThrust develops innovative systems that take bioreactor aeration to the next level.

www.biothrust.de

 

3rd Place | Vivalyx , Altenkirchen

Founding team: Dr. Benedict Doorschodt Chief, Technology Lead; Prof. René Tolba, Medical Lead; Dr. Christian Bleilevens, Science Lead; Andreas Schumacher, Business Lead

We save and improve the lives of people suffering from organ failure worldwide by increasing the organ vitality and the number of organs for transplantation without using donor blood.

bdoorschodt@ukaachen.de

Finalists 2022:

Bicomer, Bielefeld
Production of terpenoids via a microbial platform technology.
Contact: n.henke@uni-bielefeld.de

Ningaloo Biosystems GmbH, Cologne
Biotechnology tools, and biopharmaceutical production and process solutions. Additionally, we will address the rising optogenetics research market.
https://ningaloo.bio

NIUM, Esch an der Alzette (Luxembourg)
Nium uses biological data and metabolic modelling for the development of healthy food products and tailored nutritional recommendations.
https://www.nium.io

Athenata GmbH, Wuppertal
We enable Biotech companies to trust their experimental results again:
Through the development of statistical methods that are adapted to the specifics of an experiment, we help to avoid non-reproducable research, (reduce the amount of data required and shorten experiments) by leaving behind conventional statistics and implement flexible and -most importantly- verifiable statistical analyses.
https://athenata.com/

X-ZELL, Lennestadt
X-ZELL’s is redefining preventive healthcare by enabling routine pathology centres to detect atypical cells in non-invasive body liquids and process them digitally – paving the way for affordable, accessible and data-driven cancer diagnostics.
www.x-zell.com

Modiblast, Oberhaching
Controlling leukemia by inducing personalized anti-cancer vaccines in vivo
www.modiblast.com

 

Winner 2021
1st Place | DNTOX, Düsseldorf

Founding team: Dr. Stefan Masjosthusmann; Dr. Katharina Koch; Kristina Bartmann; Prof. Dr. Ellen Fritsche, advisor (science) ; Silke Beaucamp, advisor (business); Prof. Dr. Axel Mosig, advisor (bioinformatics)

DNTOX is a cell biological screening laboratory, which allows the chemical and pharmaceutical industry to screen substances and ingredients for their potential to cause developmental neurotoxicity (DNT) in a human-based in vitro system that complies to current regulatory standards.

Contact: stefan.masjosthusmann(at)iuf-duesseldorf.de

 

2nd Place | HBOX Therapies, Aachen

Founding team: Menne, Matthias 1. Managing director, Finance&Marketing; Schlanstein, Peter 2. Managing director, Technology & Production ; Steuer, Niklas 3. Managing director, Strategy & Operations

With our startup HBOX Therapies we develop, produce and market a platform technology for targeted blood hyperoxygenation therapy to treat carbon monoxide poisoning, heart attack, and cancer.

HBOX – RWTH AACHEN UNIVERSITY

 

3rd Place | PRAMOMOLECULAR, Berlin

Founding team: Dr. Merle Fuchs, Molecular Biologist, Multiple Entrepreneur, CEO; Dr. Thomas Hiller, Biotechnologist, CTO; Ida Shaef, Chemist / Biological Chemist, CSO

PRAMOMOLECULAR silences proteins that cause serious disorders in the lungs and pancreas.

www.pramomolecular.com

 

Finalists 2021:

ATEM SD GmbH, Haan
ATEM provides cutting edge analytical and structural biological services based on the rapidly advancing cryo-Electron Microscopy technology for its customers as a CRO.
www.atem.bio

Detechgene, Köln
Detechgene offers an on-site rapid testing solution that detects any infectious agent as precisely and accurately as a lab-based test, enabling rapid diagnosis for everyone.
www.detechgene.de

InnoSurge AC, Aachen
We at InnoSurge AC develop AI-powered medical software for automated preoperative surgical planning, for example for facial reconstructions.
UNIKLINIK RWTH AACHEN

LampSeq Diagnostics GmbH, Bonn
Scalable pathogen testing using an isotermal barcoding and sequencing process
Contact: jonathan.schmid-burgk(at)lampseq.eu

Modiblast, Oberhaching
Control leukemia by inducing cancer vaccines in vivo
www.modiblast.com

Winner 2020
1st Place | PerAGraft GmbH, Aachen

Founding team: Dr. Valentine Gesche, CEO; Dr. Kathrin Kurtenbach CTO; Alexander Löwen, Clinical Case Planning & Production

PerAGraft’s vision is to define a new standard of care in the treatment of complex aortic aneurysms and become a global market leader in personalised aortic implants.
www.peragraft.de

 

2nd Place | Dermanostic GmbH, Düsseldorf

Founding team: Dr. Ole Martin, Dr. Alice Martin, Dr. Estefania Lang, Patrick Lang

DERMANOSTIC – “dermatologist by app”, offers patients a diagnosis and therapy of their skin change including prescription by means of an app – and this within 24 hours.

www.dermanostic.com

 

3rd Place | CASC8, Keerbergen, Belgium

Founding team: Barbara Gaethofs, CEO. Prof. Dr. med Marc Hendrikx, CSO. Geert Alders, CBO

Regenerative therapy for Advanced Ischemic Heart Disease, using Cardiac Atrial Appendage Stem Cells (CASCs).

www.casc8.life

 

Finalists 2020:

attyloid GmbH, Düsseldorf
Particles count.
www.attyloid.com

Ningaloo Biosystems GmbH, Köln
Biotechnology tools, and biopharmaceutical production and process solutions. Additionally, we will address the rising optogenetics research market.
https://ningaloo.bio

PolyGlyco i.Gr., Bonn
Glycome-based therapy of age-related neurodegenerative diseases with unmet medical need
Contact: Christine.Klaus(at)polyglyco.com

ATIVAA – next (gene) biologics, Bielefeld
The next gen(e) virus for glioblastoma therapy.
www.ativaa.com

Actome GmbH, Freiburg
Actome GmbH’s analytical technology supports life science research and medical innovations by enabling the precise quantification of proteins and protein interactions in biological samples with hitherto unseen sensitivity and specificity.
www.actome.de

Thank you to Miltenyi Biotec B.V. &Co. KG, Bergisch Gladbach, for generously hosting the BioRiver Boost! event 2020.

The following experts were engaged in the jury: Dr. Boris Stoffel, Miltenyi Biotec B.V. & Co. KG, Member of the Executive Board, Dr. Bettina Möckel, Qiagen, Vice Corporate Business Development, Dr. Karl-Heinz Schneider, Bayer AG, Clinical Manufacturing von Biologika, Dr. Volker Vogel, Lonza Cologne, Associate Director Business Development, Dr. Anna Lisa Picciolo-Lehrke, UCB Pharma GmbH, Senior Director, Head Neurology Business Development, Dr. Bert M. Klebl, Lead Discovery Center GmbH, CEO/CSO, Dr. Marek Kozlowski NRW.BANK, VENTURE CAPITAL Life Sciences & CleanTech, Dr. Caroline Fichtner High-Tech Gründerfonds GmbH, Investment Manager.

Reverse pitches during the BioRiver Boost! event were hold by Dr. Ralph Herbst, Bayer, Dr. Kay te Kaat, Qiagen, Dr. Holger Zimmermann, AiCuris antiinfective-cures, Dr. Andreas Kessell, antibodies-online and Miltenyi Biotec.

Winner 2019
Winners (equal 1st to 3rd place)
ACUS, Köln

Founding team: Dr. Moritz Horn, CEO; Prof. Dr. Josef Penninger, Advisor; Dr. Martin Denzel, Advisor; Dr. Ulrich Elling; Advisor

Technology: Target deconvolution services and innovative drug target discoveries

www.acuslabs.com

ProSion, Köln

Founding team: Dr. Slim Chiha, CEO; Mutlu Yoenel, CFO

Technology: Chemical Toolkit for Making the Undruggable Druggable

https://prosion.io/

Cherrykukess, Düsseldorf

Founding team: Dr. Knud Esser; M.Sc. Judith Steimel

Technology: New Cancer Therapies

https://cherrykukess.com/

 

Finalists 2019

UriCell, Düsseldorf
Founding team:
Lucas Spitzhorn- Project Manager; Scientist
Audrey Ncube – Scientist
Paul Stut – Business Management
Martina Bohndorf- Medical Technical Assistant
Prof. Dr. James Adjaye – Mentor; Institute director
Wasco Wruck – Bioinformatician

Technology: UriCell – Kidney stem cell products from urine
www.uricell.de

Bex-Biotec GmbH & Co.KG, Münster
Founding team:
Dr. Rebecca Melcher
CEO | Business Administration
Dr. Tobias Weikert
Research | Development Manager
M.Sc. Dominik Schmidt
Research | Biological-Technical Assistant

Technology: Bio-Engineering eXperts – We are the plant treatment evaluating accelerator!
https://www.bex-biotec.com/

PL BioScience GmbH, Aachen
Founding team:
Hatim Hemeda, PhD – CEO
Christian Wilkes, MBA – CFO

Technology: We deliver animal-free cell culture solutions
https://www.pl-bioscience.com

Silvacx, Bonn
Founding team:
Armin Kübelbeck, Dipl.-Ing.

Technology: Silvacx – A Universal Platform to Silence Cancer and Infectious Diseases
www.silvacx.com

DERMATACT, Münster
Founding team:
Dr. Christoph Riethmüller

Technology: touching phenotypes
www.dermatact.com

Winner 2018
Winners (equal 1st to 3rd place)
Priavoid GmbH, Juelich

Founding team:
Prof. Dr. Willbold

Technology: Targeting Neurological Disorders with all-D-Peptides

https://priavoid.com

 

sphairlab GmbH, Aachen

Founding team:
Dipl.-Ing. Jens Hutzenlaub
Dipl.-Ing. Dipl.-Wirt.-Ing. Wolfgang Hassa

Technology: Mobile Rein- und Sauberräume

https://sphairlab.com/

 

Black Drop Biodrucker GmbH, Aachen

Founding team:
Dr.-Ing. Andreas Blaeser

Technology: Black Drop Biodrucker GmbH is a German 3D-bioprinting company located in the heart of Europe.

www.black-drop.de

 

Finalists 2018

 

ACUS, Köln
Founding team: Dr. Moritz Horn, CEO; Prof. Dr. Josef Penninger, Advisor; Dr. Martin Denzel, Advisor; Dr. Ulrich Elling; Advisor
Technology: Target deconvolution services and innovative drug target discoveries
www.acuslabs.com

Pantherna Therapeutics GmbH, Hennigsdorf

Founding team:
Dr. Daniel Tondera, Head of Biology
Dr. Gerrit Maass, CFO
Dr. Jörg Kaufmann, CSO
Dr. Volker Fehring, Head of Formulation
Dr. Oliver Keil, CTO
Dr. Klaus Giese, CEO

Technology: Pantherna’s innovative technology platform is based on advanced nanoparticles for the delivery and expression of therapeutic mRNA drugs in the endothelium.
https://pantherna-therapeutics.com/

SensID GmbH, Rostock

Founding team:
Bjoern Nowack
Managing Director & Co-Founder
Sven Rueger
CFO & Co-Founder
Andreas Bollmann
Regulatory Affairs Manager & Co-Founder
www.sens-id.com

SniPER, Aachen

Founding team:
Jolein Mijnes, CEO; Nidina Ortiz-Brüchle, CTO; Alain Kummer, Venture partner NLC; Haley Baptist, Venture developer NLC; Edgar Dahl
Technology: Entwicklung einer innovativen Diagnostik-Technologieplattform für die personalisierte Medizin von Krebspatienten

Stem Cell Healing, Köln

Founding team:
Carlos Chacón Martínez, Victor Bustos, Nicole Stein

Technology: Induce transient re-activation of the body’s own Hair Follicle Stem Cells (HFSCs) to promote their regenerative functions

Winner 2017
Winners (equal 1st to 3rd place)
FundamentalPharma, Frankfurt/M

Founding team:
Dr. Thomas Schulze, CEO

Technology: Spacing rules in the brain: Novel active substances that act as molecular spacers in the brain prevent neurodegeneration

 

ClickmerSystems, Bonn

Founding team:
Dr Nora Karnowski (Head of Laboratory),
Dr Maren Hamann (scientist, marketing management)
Dr Johanna Kauppila (Scientist)
Stefanie Büsch (technical assistance)

Technology: Synthetic alternative to antibodies

 

Tubulis Technologies, Martinsried

Founding team:
Jonas Helma-Smets, Dominik Schumacher, Prof. Heinrich Leonhardt, Prof. Christian Hackenberger

Technology: Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADCs) der nächsten Generation

Winner 2016
Winners (equal 1st to 8th place)
Institute for Stem Cell Research and Regenerative Medicine, now UriCell GmbH, Düsseldorf

Urine stem cell bank/service
Website

Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH, today attyloid GmbH, Düsseldorf

sFIDA – Early Diagnosis of Alzheimer’s Dementia
https://attyloid.com/

Clustermarket, international

Clustermarket is an online sharing platform for scientists and life science companies to rent and lease lab equipment, labs and expertise.
www.clustermarket.com

PAIA Biotech GmbH, Köln

Development and marketing of assay kits for high-throughput quantification of antibodies and proteins
www.paiabio.com

NUMAFERM, Düsseldorf

Platform technology for the biotechnical production of peptides
www.numaferm.com

RheinCell Therapeutics GmbH, today Langenfeld

GMP grade HLA homozygous Allogeneic iPSC Master Cell Bank
www.rheincell.de

TH Köln / Bio-Pharmazeutische Chemie

Wirkstoff-Forschung: Epigenetisch differenzierende Anti-Tumorwirkstoffe
Contact: Prof. Nicole Teusch

Dr. Seibt Genomics GmbH

Contact: Dr. Benjamin Seibt

Winner 2015
Winners (equal 1st to 8th place)
Cube Biotech GmbH, Monheim am Rhein

https://cube-biotech.com/

 

Cysal GmbH, Bonn

http://www.cysal.de/

 

Sequip S+E, Düsseldorf

https://www.sequip-particle-technology.de

 

Qithera GmbH, Aachen

Contact: Dr. Michael Rose

 

AgroJector UG, Köln

Contact: Dr. Bekir Ulker

 

ProNaCell GmbH, Bonn

Contact: Dr. Alexander Glassmann

 

PS Biotech GmbH, Aachen

Contact: Dr. Kristina Brüllhoff

 

BIO-MAR, Düsseldorf

Contact: Prof. Roth

Winner 2014
Finalists (equal 1st to 4th place)
InfanDx AG, Köln

Dipl.-Chem. Ron Maier

LightFab UG, Aachen

Dipl.-Phys. Martin Hermans

LIMS@work, Bonn

Georg Strömer, Egbert Heuvelmann

Phytowelt GreenTechnologies GmbH, Nettetal

Dr. Peter Welters

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