Rivercyte GmbH
Rivercyte GmbH develops and manufactures technology for deformability cytometry, enabling rapid and label-free physical phenotyping of cells for research and clinical diagnostics.
About
Rivercyte GmbH is a German biotechnology company based in Erlangen, founded in 2022 as a spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light. The company specializes in developing state-of-the-art instruments and software for deformability cytometry, a label-free technology for analyzing the physical properties of single cells (such as deformability, size, shape, and stiffness). Rivercyte aims to make cell mechanical phenotyping widely available, providing researchers and clinicians with innovative tools for disease diagnosis and prognosis. Their technology leverages high-speed microfluidic imaging and machine learning to identify biomarkers and enable new diagnostic methodologies, particularly for blood and tissue biopsy analyses.
Products & Services
- Naiad deformability cytometry device for physical phenotyping of cells
- CytoPlot analysis software for deformability cytometry data
- Microfluidic chips for single-cell mechanical analysis
- Methylcellulose measurement buffer for microfluidic assays
- Naiad Fluidics Kit (replacement tubing/set)
- Microgel beads with tunable mechanical properties for calibration and research applications
- Waste collection tubes for cytometry workflows
- Scientific collaboration and rental packages for devices
Use Cases & Case Studies
- Diagnosis and prognosis of diseases using cell mechanical biomarkers
- Rapid intraoperative tumor biopsy diagnosis via physical cell phenotyping
- Monitoring changes to immune cell properties in disorders (e.g., depression, COVID-19)
- Enhancing neonatal diagnostics via deformability cytometry (SoPhyA project)
- Research on the effects of nutritional supplements (fish oil) on cell deformability
Partnerships & Collaborations
- Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light
- University Hospital Erlangen
- Leibniz University Hannover
- University of South Dakota
- Dresden University of Technology
- University of Zurich
Awards & Recognition
- Winners of Phase 1 of the Bavarian Business Plan Competition 2025
- Jochen Guck awarded the Greve Prize 2024 (German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina)
- Markéta Kubánková awarded the 'For Women in Science' L'Oréal-UNESCO prize 2024
- Markéta Kubánková awarded the Hermann Neuhaus Prize by the Max Planck Society
- Medical Valley Award (250,000 €) for cell-based diagnostics project