NanoStruct raises €2.6M to detect Listeria and Salmonella in hours, not days

Every day, food manufacturers across Europe make the same calculated bet. They ship products to stores before pathogen test results come back — because those results take two to three days, and the supply chain simply can’t wait. NanoStruct, a Würzburg-based deeptech startup, is building the technology that eliminates that bet entirely.

Founded in 2021 as a spin-off of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, NanoStruct has closed a €2.6 million seed round to bring its rapid bacterial detection platform to the food industry. The round is led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Bayern Kapital, and the AUXXO Female Catalyst Fund, building on earlier grants from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) and the European Union.

The problem: food ships before the results come back

Detecting dangerous bacteria in food — Listeria, Salmonella, E. coli — currently relies on culture-based lab methods that take two to three days to return results. In a supply chain measured in hours, that lag is a structural flaw. Products leave factories before anyone can confirm they’re safe. When contamination is discovered late, the only option is a costly recall.

The scale of this problem is large. Microbial contamination accounts for over 60% of food recalls in Europe, and the global food pathogen testing market was valued at $11.07 billion in 2024, projected to reach $20.38 billion by 2032. At the same time, EU regulatory requirements are tightening, with food manufacturers under increasing pressure to demonstrate safety before products reach consumers. The demand for faster, automated testing has never been higher.

The technology: nanostructured chips and AI, same-day results

NanoStruct’s platform combines optical measurement technology, nanotechnology, biotechnology, and machine learning to deliver pathogen detection results in just a few hours — the same day production runs. At the centre of the system are nanostructured sensor chips that act as molecular fingerprints, identifying specific bacteria with high precision without requiring the lengthy culture incubation period that conventional methods depend on.

The result is a fundamental shift in how food safety decisions can be made. Rather than retrospective testing — checking batches already in transit — NanoStruct enables food manufacturers to act on results before products leave the facility. Recalls are avoided, food waste is reduced, and consumer safety is meaningfully improved.

The founders: three scientists from Würzburg

All three co-founders come from the research environment of Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg, one of Germany’s oldest universities with a strong track record in life sciences and biomedical technology. The founding of NanoStruct in 2021 followed years of academic groundwork in nanostructured sensing, positioning the company at the intersection of biotechnology and precision measurement.

What the funding enables

The €2.6 million seed round has three clear objectives: validate the platform through pilot projects in the food analysis market, build a structured sales organisation, and expand the team. The food industry is the first target market — not because the technology is limited to it, but because it is the most immediate and highest-urgency application.

NanoStruct has also mapped a longer-term pipeline. The same detection platform could accelerate processes in veterinary diagnostics, human diagnostics, and bacterial monitoring in sensitive manufacturing environments such as pharmaceuticals and medical device production. Those remain secondary priorities — the food industry comes first.

Investor perspective

“The technological breakthrough NanoStruct has achieved in sensor development is remarkable. In addition to the platform technology, we were convinced by the company’s strong network in the target market and, above all, by the team. I very much look forward to working with Henriette and the entire founding team.”

— Dr. Stephan Ruck, Investment Analyst, High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF)

The investor lineup is notable for its diversity. HTGF brings deep-tech seed experience and a network spanning 800+ portfolio companies. Bayern Kapital is Bavaria’s leading venture capital company, state-backed and focused on German technology startups. The AUXXO Female Catalyst Fund, which invests in companies with at least one female founder, adds a dimension increasingly rare in deeptech cap tables — and reflects the composition of NanoStruct’s own founding team.

“With HTGF, Bayern Kapital, and AUXXO, we have found exactly the partners we need for this next step: experienced, well-networked, and convinced of our vision. Now we are bringing rapid bacterial analytics to the food industry.”

— Dr. Henriette Maaß, CEO, NanoStruct

The competitive landscape

The food safety testing market is dominated by established names — bioMérieux, Neogen, Hygiena — which focus primarily on lab-based detection methods. These companies have strong distribution and regulatory approvals, but their core approaches remain slow. Rapid testing methods (PCR, immunoassays) are growing fastest within the sector, projected to expand at an annual rate of 8%+ through 2032. NanoStruct is positioning its nanostructured sensor platform within this rapid methods segment, where the competitive pressure from incumbents is lowest and the unmet need is clearest.

The combination of nanostructured sensing with AI-driven analysis represents a genuinely differentiated approach — not an incremental improvement on PCR, but a different physical mechanism that lends itself to faster cycling and automation.

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