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Invest-NL is participating for €5 million in a €10 million investment round for Delft IMP. The other investor is Norwegian Sandwater.

The financial injection will be used to further scale up Delft IMP’s nanocoating technology. This makes more sustainable batteries and other sustainable applications possible.

Delft IMP (“Intensified Material Production”) is a spin-off of TU Delft and has unique expertise in developing ultra-thin coatings on powders and has patented technology to produce these materials at scale. The ultra-thin nano-coatings protect the material powders in the battery and thus improve its service life.

With this application technology, Delft IMP is able to control the process to optimize the film thickness and reduce the use of scarce raw materials, such as cobalt. Sustainable use of raw materials is their trademark, as the technology applied to powders has a much wider range of applications. For example, they are also an important player in the development of innovative electrolysers and fuel cell technologies.

CEO Dr. Roderik Colen: “With this investment we can contribute to reducing the use of scarce raw materials. We apply ultra-thin coatings to powder material and enable production at scale with a unique technology from TU Delft.”

“Invest-NL invests in companies that make the Netherlands more sustainable and innovative,” says Wouter van Westenbrugge, Senior Investment Manager at Invest-NL, “Delft IMP’s advanced application technology can significantly accelerate the energy transition and also significantly reduce CO2 emissions. emissions from battery production.”

Source: InvestNL press release

New investment in light-powered biosensor accelerates the availability of high quality – low cost tests for early detection of cancer, Covid-19 and other diseases

 Surfix announces an investment of € 8,5 million by a Dutch consortium consisting of companies Qurin Diagnostics and LioniX International, industry accelerator PhotonDelta and the East Netherlands Development Agency Oost NL for further development of Surfix’s plug-and-play diagnostics platform.

Surfix will use the investment to accelerate the development of its fast, reliable and attractive plug-and-play diagnostics platform for all sorts of point-of-care tests. The initial target applications are early cancer diagnosis, Covid-19 detection and tracing of pathogens in water for aquaculture. 

 Wageningen, The Netherlands, May 25th, 2021

Low cost tests available for the masses

The global Covid-19 pandemic underlines the need for fast and reliable point-of-care diagnostics anytime and anywhere. Also in areas where there is no hospital, clinic or trained medical staff available. A sample taken from the patient is tested on the spot, next to the hospital bed, in the doctor’s office or even at home. Within minutes the result is visible and appropriate action can be taken. It is convenient, in some cases lifesaving, and there is no time-consuming and expensive laboratory work or equipment involved. The availability of a quick and reliable test would mean a huge step forward in the fight against the current and future pandemics. The ultimate goal for Surfix is to make a test that is available for the masses and at the cost of only a few euros.

Unique diagnostics platform

The biosensor of Surfix consists of two significant elements: the most crucial part is the chip in which the actual sensing occurs. The other part is the microfluidics part, in which the biological assay takes place in a small sample volume.

In the sensing part light passes through the chip (comparable to a minuscule glass-fiber spiral) instead of electricity. Biomolecules attached to the surface of the chip can catch other biomolecules out of a sample (for instance blood or urine), based on biorecognition. This causes a change in the properties of the light that is traveling through the chip, which can be detected and read by the sensor system. This change is a measure of  the presence of the biomolecule in the sample one is looking for.

Before entering the sensing part of the sensor, any sample needs to be processed (comparable to a very small laboratory). This takes place in microfluidic channels which feed the sample into the sensing part.

For the sensing part Surfix has developed unique nano-coatings which enable the binding of biomolecules and enhance the sensitivity of the sensor, while the microfluidic part is covered with a different nano-coating that repels biomolecules and enhances the flow of the sample through the microfluidic channels.

The plug-and-play diagnostics platform can be used to detect viruses, DNA and RNA, proteins like antibodies and antigens, and other biomolecules.

Combination of Dutch technology

The plug-and-play diagnostics platform combines LioniX’s integrated photonics chip with Surfix’s nanocoatings for the proper functioning of both the sensing part and the microfluidics part. Integrated photonics is a revolutionary technology that allows the development of chips that can sense, capture and process huge amounts of data with light instead of electricity. Using light means that new types of devices and systems such as biosensors can be created that are radically cheaper, faster, smaller, more robust and reliable while using less energy. Qurin will be the launching customer for the platform in the field of cancer diagnostics in a screening setting on a regular basis for the entire adult population. This way Surfix hopes to contribute to the early detection and cure of the cancer patient. Qurin’s novel biomarker technology aims to detect most if not all  cancer types in urine, including lung cancer and cancer of the large bowel.

 

Maarten Buijs, CEO of Surfix, is excited about the investment: “With this development, we have deepened our relationship with parent companies LioniX and Qurin, both University of Twente spin-offs. With OostNL and PhotonDelta  on board our drive is to bring point-of-care diagnostics to the next level. In combination with the network and experience of the two Dutch public-private organizations, the leading-edge integrated photonics technology of LioniX and the medical knowledge of Qurin, the investment will allow us to take on the industrialization of our solution and clinically validate the exciting results in biomarker detection obtained to date”.

Senior Investment Manager Tech Pieter Klinkert of Oost NL shares the excitement: “The solution of Surfix supports the important ecosystem of photonic biochips and microfluidics which Oost NL acknowledges as key enabling technologies. Surfix can realize a breakthrough in the field of diagnostics based on photonics. Surfix is a spin-off company of Wageningen University & Research and is actively collaborating with WUR and the photonics cluster in Twente. This makes it a perfect fit for the network around photonics and MedTech in the east of the Netherlands.

Sensorfact raised new capital from Korys, venture capital fund FORWARD.one, a current major shareholder, and EIT InnoEnergy, to further invest in the development of its energy efficiency platform for the industry and further expand across Europe. With this Series A investment, the innovative Utrecht based scale-up can continue to grow in Benelux and Italy and launch its activities in the Nordics, Austria and Switzerland.

Established in 2016, Sensorfact developed a plug-and-play energy management system, to provide an easy and affordable solution for industrial SMEs to reduce their energy consumption. Pieter Broekema, CEO and founder of Sensorfact“Energy bills are counted among the top highest operational expenses faced by industrial SMEs. Also, European legislation is pushing industries to improve their energy efficiency. We experience that especially SMEs face challenges to comply with government regulations and often lack the machine-level consumption data and analytics to identify savings opportunities”.

Over the last 5 years, the company grew its customer base to more than 350 customers in more than 14 countries. “Our customers are primarily active in the Plastics, Food & Beverages, and Metal Industry as their energy consumption is the highest among all industrial branches”, says Pieter Broekema. To date, the company also heavily invested in optimising its software platform, developing new algorithms, and offering new solutions to make energy-saving easy for its customers.

Reducing the human environmental footprint by eliminating industrial energy waste

By 2030, the EU will have to reach an energy efficiency target of 32.5%. Putting energy efficiency first is a key objective of the EU, as energy savings are the easiest way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Pieter Broekema“To realise energy savings, it is important to increase insight into the company’s energy use. The first step to take is to install energy sensors to get data on your machine-level energy consumption. The data can be used to benchmark the machines, monitor the energy flows and create an energy balance”.

Besides offering machine-level energy data, Sensorfact also developed industry-specific algorithms to identify energy-saving opportunities: “The data is analysed with the help of AI tools and industry-specialised algorithms, enhanced by the industrial knowledge of Sensorfact energy consultants. This way, we can offer the industry a complete solution to bring down their energy use”. To date, Sensorfact has identified 54GWh of energy savings.

Four million to accelerate development energy efficiency platform and international expansion

This new capital increase will enable Sensorfact to further accelerate its growth. “We are really happy with this powerful consortium of investors as this will allow us to turn our growth plans into reality. Our ambition is to become the number one industrial energy management provider, targeting 370K SME industrial companies in Europe. Together we are making a difference in scaling up this impactful technology”, says Pieter Broekema.

Loïc de Schaetzen, Investment Director at Korys“As part of our Energy transition portfolio, we were eager to invest in the sector of energy efficiency for some time. With Sensorfact we found exactly what we were looking for: a company combining the offer of a non-invasive product, a clear reporting platform providing immediate insight for potential energy savings and an already sizable portfolio of industrial clients. Sensorfact manages to do so while targeting the SME segment with an affordable and cost-effective solution for the client. We see important development potential and want to bring Korys‘expertise and network to expand the presence of the company in Belgium and Europe”.

Frederik Gerner, Partner at FORWARD.one: ”As an existing investor in Sensorfact we are excited to further support the Sensorfact team on their mission to reduce energy usage within the industry in Europe and beyond. We have seen the team and company develop strongly since we initially invested in Sensorfact halfway through 2019 and therefore believe in the ability of the team to drive further growth and impact. Since our initial investment Sensorfact has developed their technology, expanded their product range and expanded the team in order to further address their growing customer base’s energy and cost saving needs. We are excited to see Sensorfact play an even more important role in their industry and accelerate their growth with this funding round”. 

With this Series A investment, Sensorfact can continue to grow in Benelux and Italy and launch its activities in the Nordics, Austria and Switzerland.