Spin-off from Porto receives 1 million dollars to further its research on Covid-19, cancer and Alzheimer

The startup from Porto, iLoF - Intelligent Lab on Fiber, established at INESC TEC and incubated at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (FMUP) ensured funding by Microsoft's venture fund M12 and Mayfield. This funding will help advance the several projects that the company has been developing in the field of personalized medicine.

iLoF was founded by Joana Paiva, together with Paula Sampaio (i3S/FCUP), Mehak Mumtaz (University of Oxford, UK) and Luís Valente (INESC TEC), and it has been ground breaking at international level for the development of a patented technology on the process of detecting nanostructures in fluids.

The American market is one of the largest in terms of clinical trials and the funding that the company was able to ensure is an important stimulus for the company's objectives: "It will help accelerate our collaborations with clinical partners both in Europe and in the United States, helping us reach our target of making drug development experience much more human and patient friendly, all the while making this process much more efficient and flexible to the industry, as well", states Luís Valente, iLoF CEO to UP News portal.

Based on a blood sample, iLOF's technology is able to analyse multiple biological profiles and identify, for example, if a patient displays biomarkers that indicate Alzheimer, a more or less aggressive type of cancer, if the patient is to develop acute symptoms related to Covid-19 or become asymptomatic.

iLoF's client portfolio includes several hospitals and two of the major world pharmaceuticals; also, the company is collaborating with Hospital São João in a project whose goal is to stratify patients and identify those who should be sent home and be isolated or those who should be hospitalised.

At present, the company has 15 collaborators and five more are due to join the spinoff by the end of 2020. The development team is «incubated at FMUP, and it is accelerated at Oxford Foundry, in England.

In 2019, the startup was selected to win an accelerator programme by EIT Health, the world leading Consortium in the health area. The startup from Porto received two million euros to fight Alzheimer, through AI and photonics.

This startup already features other important awards, namely the Altice International Innovation Awards and the Born from Knowledge Award, promoted by the National Agency for Innovation. The company also scored first place in Latvia, in the Digital Freedom Festival, organised by the Dutch accelerator Rockstart and the first place in the scope of the EIT Jumpstarter, of the European Institute of Technology.

It should be highlighted that Porto won the World Excellence Award for Best Startup-Friendly City of Europe. The award was granted on 19 February 2019, during the World Excellence Awards, in Istanbul, known as an investment hub in the Middle East.

On that occasion the WBAF Chairman affirmed that "Porto is a melting pot where people, tradition, history, and the amenities of a modern metropolis come together in one of Western Europe's most vibrant cities. But Portugal's second-largest city is not just a prime tourist destination, it's also home to a burgeoning tech startup scene and a myriad of innovative ventures. And it is one of the few municipalities in Europe that has a startup programme to encourage and stimulate entrepreneurship".