Founder of the month: CAVIGEN
18.07.2024
Ana Beatriz Benatti
Founder of the month
Models that do not accurately reflect the situation in humans are still used in drug development today. The KIT spin-off CAVIGEN (UG), which was only founded in July 2024, develops advanced 3D cell culture systems based on polymer films that enable the realistic reproduction of human organ functions in so-called organoids. Here, we talk about the founding process and the challenges involved.
What does your company stand for?
Drug development is still based on models that do not accurately reflect the situation in humans. CAVIGEN develops methods to cultivate and experiment with 3D cell cultures under physiological conditions. For this purpose, it has developed sensor arrays – small microcavity assemblies in which cells can be cultured in three dimensions and, for the first time in the world, oxygen can be measured in the direct microenvironment of the cell aggregates. The technology offers the potential to make drug development safer in the future and may be a way to reduce animal testing.
Where and how did you get the brilliant idea to found the company?
As is typical for spin-offs, the idea for the start-up came from research: the idea is based on many years of research by the AG Gottwald group at KIT, which is involved in the development of film-based cell culture systems. Since Eric Gottwald had a good understanding of the market for such systems thanks to his first spin-off (300MICRONS GmbH), and Christoph Grün had gained an excellent overview of the technical feasibility of the project as part of his doctoral thesis, it quickly became clear that we wanted to make a contribution to improved drug development with our development and bring our system to market maturity. The first results also showed that the idea could work. Exploiting the idea as part of a spin-off was then the most obvious and sensible option.
How did the founding team come together?
Christoph did his PhD in Eric’s working group – the topic was already oxygen measurement in 3D cell cultures. It was during this time that the idea of setting up the company was born. Cordula Nies has been a research assistant in the working group for many years and complements the team with her laboratory experience.
Where do you see the hurdles in the start-up process? Where did you get support?
First of all, the organisational and legal issues are of course a hurdle, especially if you come from a scientific background. However, Eric already had start-up experience and Christoph had already been involved in a spin-off project, so he at least already had some basic knowledge. The main source of support was the Helmholtz Enterprise Programme: The Field Study Fellowship and the Spin-off Programme provided us with a mentor who also always helped us to focus on what we needed to do. During the Field Study Fellowship in particular, we were able to gain a great deal of insight into customer needs.
What was one of your biggest challenges during the start-up phase?
Probably the same as for most start-ups: finding the money to make the idea a reality.
Looking back, what would you do differently?
Look for investors even earlier, provided the business model is mature.
What qualities do you think a founder should have?
A high level of frustration tolerance/perseverance and the will to make a difference/idealism.
Do you have any advice for other young company founders?
It’s important to connect with potential customers early on. As scientists, we often get so caught up in our own work that we lose sight of the customer benefit. For example, when I take my car to the car wash, I just want it to be clean afterwards. I don’t really care how the car wash works. As a rule of thumb, it’s always a good idea to double-check and confirm your assumptions.
When talking to investors or business angels, if in doubt, be confident enough to reject an offer and keep looking.
What are your plans for the future? What are your next big milestones?
In the short term, we’re looking to get feedback from test customers and make improvements to the system based on that. We’re also currently working on a seed financing round to bring our MVP to market. In the medium and long term, we’re aiming to be the first company to offer a complex oxygen measurement system in a 3D cell culture context with an automated platform.
Thank you for answering the questions!
Listen to the podcast episode with Cordula, Christoph and Eric from the founding team. Daniela talks to them about their research and start-up journey, as well as what they’ve learned, the best accelerator programmes and going public.
