How NanoStruct is Delivering Food Safety in Hours and Not Days
- Karan Bhatia
- May 11
- 2 min read
NanoStruct, developing high-performance biosensors to increase the quality of your products, led by Henriette Maaß, Kai Leibfried, Enno Schatz, and the team, has raised a seed funding round of €2.6 million led by High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), Bayern Kapital, and the AUXXO Female Catalyst Fund. The funding builds on previous grants from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWE) and the European Union.
Molecular Fingerprint Instead of Days of Waiting
Detecting harmful bacteria in food currently takes several days, creating delays in preventing contaminated products from reaching consumers. As food safety regulations tighten, demand for faster and automated testing solutions continues to grow.
NanoStruct has developed a process that reduces detection times to just a few hours by combining optical measurement technology with nanotechnology, biotechnology, and machine learning. The approach enables same-day results, helping reduce recalls, cut food waste, and improve food safety standards.
“I have followed NanoStruct and its innovation for several years and remain highly impressed by both the technology and the founding team,” said Arnolf Kneißler. Accelerating bacterial testing in food offers significant industry value, while the new funding will support NanoStruct’s next step toward commercialising its system.
The seed funding will support NanoStruct in validating its system through pilot projects in the food analysis market, expanding its sales operations, and entering its first target market.
“With HTGF, Bayern Kapital, and AUXXO, the right partners are now in place to support NanoStruct’s next stage of growth,” said Henriette Maaß. The company is now focused on bringing rapid bacterial analytics to the food industry.
NanoStruct’s technology also has the potential to improve bacterial detection and monitoring across veterinary and human diagnostics, as well as sensitive production environments.
“The technological breakthrough achieved by NanoStruct in sensor development is highly impressive,” said Stephan Ruck. The company’s platform technology, market network, and founding team were among the key factors behind the investment decision.
