Helia Biomonitoring turns particle motion into industrial insight

Food and biopharmaceutical manufacturing need careful monitoring of their production processes — at the molecular level. Biomolecular measurement results often become available once processes are over.  Helia Biomonitoring is developing sensing technology to reverse that logic, measuring low-concentration biomolecules during production. The gains? Manufacturers can adjust more quickly, prevent quality losses, and make better use of raw materials.

The company, a spin-off of Eindhoven University of Technology, is developing its Biosensing by Particle Motion (BPM) platform, which provides real-time insights into bioprocesses. “We offer the first technology in the world for the continuous monitoring of biomolecules at low concentrations, for increasing yield and efficiency in industrial food processing and biopharmaceutical processing,” says Menno Prins, co-founder of Helia. 

Measuring the smallest concentrations 

The problem Helia set out to solve might sound simple, but it has quietly limited entire industries for decades. How do you know, in real time, how much of a specific biomolecule is present during a process, not after a sample has been sent to a lab and the batch has already moved on?

Helia's BPM was designed for real-time bioprocess analysis and can monitor a broad range of biomolecules — including small molecules, peptides, proteins, and nucleic acids — across concentrations ranging from picomolar to millimolar. These concentrations are extremely small. A picomolar concentration is like dissolving a teaspoon of sugar in an Olympic swimming pool. 

On the platform, particles are molecularly tethered to a surface, and their thermal motion reveals reversible biomolecular binding. By tracking thousands of these particles simultaneously and leveraging the technology's single-molecule resolution, biomolecular concentrations are determined with high sensitivity, precision, and robustness.

From lab to the market

Eight years after spinning out of a university lab, Helia is now bringing this solution to market. This year marks the company's first commercial product launch in Europe. The team is launching the Atline LF Analyzer, a sensor for continuous monitoring of lactoferrin, a protein of significant value in the dairy and infant nutrition industries. There, even small improvements in yield and efficiency translate into real economic impact. 

For Helia, it is the moment when a research breakthrough becomes an industrial tool. Prins calls it the company's biggest success so far, not because of a single milestone but because of what it represents: "We, with our highly dedicated team, are launching this revolutionary continuous sensing technology as a product for industrial customers."

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Making an impact in the real world 

Like most deep tech startups, Helia has had to learn to move on every front. “The main challenge of a startup is to act on all fronts simultaneously and consistently: product development, studies with clients, marketing and sales, manufacturing, team, funding, long-term strategy,” says Prins.

The G&A jury assessment also praised the company, underlining it as an example of how scientific knowledge can generate social and industrial impact through entrepreneurship. As its first product enters the market, the company is, according to the jury, an example of how complex technology can find a space in the market. 

As a spinoff of the Eindhoven University of Technology, the connection with the Brainport region is strong. The support of players such as Rabobank, The Gate, and the Brabant Startup Fonds has been crucial in Helia’s journey to translate that deep tech knowledge into a company. To date, the startup has raised €3.5 million to fuel this translation, which is already well underway.