Cell cultures are suitable for observing molecular and cellular processes and developing diagnostic procedures and drugs. In the field of cell research, cell cultures have been created in a glass vessel via a nutrient solution for over a hundred years. This is known as two-dimensional (2D) space. About twenty years ago, a more meaningful 3D research method was developed, in which the cultivation of cells takes place in an even more realistic environment. However, this method has not yet established itself on the market because it is more expensive, more complicated and has a higher error rate. The startup mo:re wants to solve precisely this problem by making 3D cultures reproducible with hydrogels. Hydrogels are modern biomaterials that imitate the extracellular matrix – tissue that surrounds cells in the body – so that the cell culture grows under realistic conditions in the laboratory. In addition, the various work steps are to be bundled in a robot so that they can be automated. Hence the company name mo:re, a combination of the terms modular and reproducible.

The founding team

During his MBA (Master of Business Administration) at the Technical University of Hamburg, Lukas Gaats, a medical engineer from Hamburg, met his co-founders David Hackenberger and Niklas Gollenstede: “The three of us chose the entrepreneurship specialisation at the Northern Institute of Technology Management (NIT) together. Then it was all about business case development. In the process, we discarded various ideas.”

Lukas came up with the idea for the start-up when he was working at the University of Brisbane during his semester abroad. The project was already running there as a doctoral thesis, but the doctoral student withdrew from the project after his PhD for personal reasons. Lukas seized the opportunity and tackled the topic as part of his doctoral thesis. In Professor Dietmar W. Hutmacher, he had a renowned expert in the field of cell research as a mentor, who still accompanies his start-up as an advisor today. The 3D perspective approach at the time was not yet fully developed, but had great potential to facilitate work in laboratories worldwide – Lukas’ mentor was convinced of this.

After returning to the NIT, Lukas pitched the idea to a potential investor, among others, and received excellent feedback. Especially in terms of relevance. “It dawned on him that something could come of it, but he was still alone at the time,” reports David, who was born in the Harz Mountains and completed his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering at the TU Hamburg: “So he approached me because he needed hardware for this, which is my area of expertise. The request came at just the right time for me, because I had just decided to give up my own business idea.” Shortly afterwards, fellow student and software developer Niklas Gollenstede from Buxtehude also joined him.

In July 2021, the trio from TU Hamburg then met Negar Shahmoradi, whose focus is on medical engineering and materials science, at a startup bootcamp in Munich: “We met Negar at a startup competition. Start-ups were assigned to students and it worked out so well with her that we asked Negar if she would like to join us – fortunately, she said yes,” reports Lukas. Negar was born in Tehran, completed her bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering there and then went on to complete her master’s degree in materials science in Trento, Italy. She is currently doing her Master’s in medical engineering at the Technical University of Munich. The startup was therefore well positioned in terms of complementary skills (medical engineering, mechanical engineering, software engineering and materials science).

Funding and employment

In June 2020, the startup began writing the business plan and looked around for consulting and funding opportunities, reports Lukas: “We quickly came across the Startup Dock (Editor’s note: “Startup Dock” is now called “Startup Port @TUHH”)respectively “beyourpilot” (editor’s note: “beyourpilot” will be called “Startup Port” from July 2023 “Startup Port”)became aware of us. David made contact and the start-up consultant Dr. Andrea Otto then looked after us. She is a biologist herself and was thrilled to be working on a biological topic for the first time in her eight years as a consultant.” The start-up consultant supported and prepared the start-up for the applications for the respective funding. She pointed the team towards the appropriate Calls for Transfer funding (C4T), which they then successfully applied for together. “That also went through Prof. Dr.-Ing. Ralf Pörtner from the TU Hamburg. He also supported me during my semester abroad, for which we are very grateful. He was always there for us,” says Lukas. Calls for Transfer funded the start-up from August 2021 to April 2022, thus enabling the start-up phase of the company to be founded. The EXIST funding then began in August 2022. In the meantime, the three NIT scientists have completed their two Master’s degrees and have been working full-time ever since. But that is far from enough: “We need to grow in terms of personnel. Both the hardware and software areas are extremely time-consuming to develop. What’s more, we only have limited sales experience – we particularly need reinforcement with a network in the biology sector. We are currently interested in InnoRampUp funding so that we can finance this. Also to create a position for a working student – or a full-time position.”

“Finding the necessary expertise for our vacancies is quite easy. However, it is difficult to identify people who want to work for a startup. It’s an insecure working environment. And the positions we are looking for are generally well paid. We are in competition with more established companies that can often offer more. Of course, the person must know what they are getting into with us. Because we can’t say what will happen next year,” says David. The young company hopes to recruit its target clientele at startup-related events, as the challenges of a startup are well known there – the expectations are right.

The time and visual effort required to realise the vision

“We want to create a platform, both on the hardware and software side, that makes it easy for you to get started as a researcher in the field of 3D cell cultures. That was not particularly possible with previous devices. We are developing a microlab that automates and continuously documents standard processes for characterising and producing 3D cell cultures. This makes data-driven research possible for the first time. At the heart of the microlab is a data marketplace where standard protocols and datasets can be created, shared and monetised. Our vision is that later on, every lab will have such a microlab, enabling affordable 3D research. This is the only way to convince researchers to adapt new technologies and forgo studies on animals,” David explains.

“So our vision can be well described. However, the road to realisation is long. The first steps to a resilient prototype take time. Besides developing the automation, for example, a lot of data has to be generated in biological studies to convince users and investors of the benefits of our technology. The hardware itself is quite standardised, so only very selected aspects can be protected. That’s why we focus a lot on our process knowledge and the advantage we get from the data generated in the micro-lab. The strategic focus on the application and the data also fits well into our business model, because nowadays selling robots alone is not enough to scale. Our vision is thus difficult to communicate. In the XPRENEURS programme, we want to develop the digital and scalable part of our business model, make connections for pilot studies and prepare for investors. The interesting things that are costly, those come first: the real innovation becomes visible when all the components come together. As it looks at the moment, we will manage to create a presentable basic product through the EXIST funding. With that, we can prove that it works. Then we’ll be so deep in the matter that we can start protecting things,” says Lukas.

Start-up financing and market entry

The start-up has a research demonstrator and published studies that prove the effectiveness of the process. The startup aims to complete the integration of analysis functions by 2023. Market entry is targeted for the 4th quarter of 2023. By selling hardware and software to research institutions and biotech companies, mo:re is aiming for annual sales of 5.5 million euros in 2024. According to the startup, this requires start-up financing totaling 1.6 million euros.

If Lukas Gaats and his team can convince the right investors, the actual innovation of their idea can finally become visible: mo:re will revolutionize 3D cell research by making individual process steps reproducible through automation and data-driven research. In this way, researchers can easily gain new insights and save time and money. This paves the way for the development of new diagnostic methods and medicines, all without animal testing.

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