Every Friday, we spotlight five bold, early‑stage spinouts solving real problems. This week: a drug that could stop cancer spreading to the brain, a “nervous system” that keeps autonomous fleets in sync, a powerful non‑toxic steriliser, a smart sensor that prevents running injuries, and an AI that fights traffic jams before they form.
Want your spinout featured in the Friday Five series? Reach out to us!
🇨🇦 Block Biosciences wants to stop brain metastases
Block Biosciences, spun out from McMaster University, is targeting an enzyme called IMPDH that allows cancer cells to migrate to the brain. The spinout hopes that by blocking the enzyme, it can prevent brain metastases from occurring.
Patients with cancers that metastasise into the brain currently have a one-year survival rate of only about 10%. The standard of care is primarily palliative.
Block Biosciences has secured $250,000 in seed funding from McMaster University and has completed its proof-of-principle studies. The spinout is now moving into pre-clinical studies.
The spinout hopes to have its treatment available to patients by 2033, when people diagnosed with lung, breast, or skin cancer would take the drug proactively to prevent brain metastases.
Block Biosciences is also supported by commercialisation firm AdMare BioInnovations.
🇸🇪 FleetMQ is a nervous system for autonomous vehicles
FleetMQ is working on middleware to enable autonomous fleets and remote-controlled vehicles by providing low-latency, extremely reliable communication using software.
That’s been a bottleneck for autonomous fleets, because our communications infrastructure wasn’t built for this purpose, and custom engineering solutions can struggle to meet reliability and performance requirements.
So, instead, FleetMQ is using an AI that optimises data routing and system coordination, seamlessly moving between 4G, 5G, and wifi signals. The real-time data streaming has a latency of tens of milliseconds.
The technology originates from research at the KTH Royal Institute of Technology, and it’s been proven to work in the field on vehicles driving more than 1,500 kilometres.
KTH Ventures, the university’s investment fund, has made an investment of undisclosed size in FleetMQ, whose founder and CEO Frank Jiang has likened the startup’s technology to a “nervous system for autonomous mobility”.
🇪🇸 Molecular Sustainable Solutions keeps surfaces sterile
Molecular Sustainable Solutions is the first-ever spinout from the Universitat Jaume I in Spain to raise money from a venture capital firm, having attracted €186,000 from BeAble Capital a few days ago.
Set up in 2023, the spinout is commercialising a peroxycarboxylic acid formulation made up of simple, non-toxic and cost-effective reagents that are widely available. The disinfectant boasts an efficacy up to sixty times that of currently available solutions.
The disinfectant is based on research by the Supramolecular and Sustainable Chemistry Group at the Department of Inorganic and Organic Chemistry.
The spinout operates out of the university-linked science and research park Espaitec. It’s still largely flying under the radar: there’s no online presence for it, yet.
🇧🇪 OnTracx helps runners recover
OnTracx, spun out of Ghent University, is commercialising a smart sensor and digital platform for runners to recover and prevent injury. Specifically, the technology measures cumulative load on tendons, muscles, and joints through a sensor worn on the lower leg. It combines this with information entered by the wearer to offer real-time insights for the runner themself, as well as trainers, podiatrists and physiotherapists.
The spinout says almost 80% of injuries are caused by tendons, muscles, and joints being overworked, and distance, pace and running data analysis alone aren’t providing a clear enough picture to help runners recover properly.
OnTracx has raised €1.2 million in a seed round backed by imec.istart Fund, the pre-seed investment vehicle for semiconductor research centre imec’s accelerator. The round also attracted PMV, KBC and assorted angel investors. Flemish government agency VLAIO provided an innovation grant.
The money will enable OnTracx to refine its product, expand commercialisation activities, and prepare for full market entry in Europe and North America. The spinout has already sold more than 500 sensors and partnered with 20 sports medical centres in Belgium.
🇬🇧 TransHumanity’s AI reduces traffic congestion
OK, it doesn’t just reduce traffic congestion, but that is the initial application of TransHumanity’s agentic AI technology, which extracts actionable insights from large data sets. Users simply ask the AI questions in plain English.
Aptiq, the spinout’s first product, is aimed at transport authorities and helps them make informed decisions that help reduce congestion, increase road safety, and hit net-zero targets.
Aptiq is currently being tested with Nottingham City Council and Transport for Greater Manchester, and the spinout plans to bring the tool to other citiy, regional and national authorities across the UK over the next 12 months.
To help it reach those goals, the spinout has raised £400,000 in pre-seed funding led by SFC Capital, while Plug and Play also contributed to the round. The round comes nine months after TransHumanity was spun out of Loughborough University.
Want us to showcase your spinout in the Friday Five series? Tell us about it!
This list is for informational purposes only. It does not constitute investment advice.
