Everystartupis looking to solve a problem.
Gelatex manufactures 3D nanofibrous scaffolds for various applications, ranging from cell culture to tissue engineering.
But we started the company with a completely different business idea in mind, Meigo Fonseca tells TNW.
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There she met her co-founder, materials scientist and engineer Mart-Erik Martens.
They founded Gelatex the same year and continued developing the product.
It would just be too costly.
Halospinning works by spinning (or drawing) nanofibres from liquid polymer solutions without using electrostatic forces.
Its faster than conventional alternatives such aselectrospinning, and can increase production capacity by 100 times, Gelatex says.
This translates to cost savings of up to 90%.
Another advantage of the method are the unique morphology properties it delivers.
This results in highly porous 3D scaffolds that can be customised to different materials and applications.
The COVID pandemic in 2020 was the start of a pivot for us, she says.
Thats when Gelatex began using its technology to mass-produce nanofibre filtering material for face masks.
Long-term, the biggest market for us is cultured meat production, Meigo Fonsenca says.
Applications range from stem cell research and toxicology studies to drug discovery in 3D tissue models.
According to Meigo Fonseca, the journey from science to entrepreneurship is not an easy one.
Story byIoanna Lykiardopoulou
Ioanna is a writer at TNW.
With a background in the humanities, she has a soft spot for social impact-enabling technologies.
