Lipocoat Wins Heraeus Accelerator Program 2021

One of 3 winners out of 1,700 candidates

The Heraeus Accelerator connects young technology companies with the research laboratories, test equipment, customers and partners of the Heraeus technology group. Heraeus launched the program in 2019. The 2020/2021 round focused on medical technology and sensors, and ten finalists pitched their ideas at the end of November 2020. A Heraeus jury selected three of them, and Lipocoat was one of the winners. According to our announcement on LinkedIn, the selection came from 1,700 candidates. The program started in January 2021, as CHEManager reported.

Testing antifouling technology on catheters

Together with the Heraeus Medical Components department, Lipocoat evaluated its LipoCoat® antifouling technology for catheter applications, including cardiovascular use. The team presented a minimum viable product, an early prototype built for evaluation and feedback. Catheters are a natural test case. Bacteria and proteins that attach to a catheter surface can lead to infections, and a coating that resembles the cell membrane aims to keep that surface clean.

The coating also fits the way device manufacturers work, because LipoCoat® can be applied to existing medical instruments.

Heraeus Accelerator Champion 2021

Because of the success of the project and the test results, our CEO Jasper van Weerd was awarded the title of Heraeus Accelerator Champion 2021.

From prototype to approved catheter

In its 2021 Challenger50 ranking, MT/Sprout described the collaboration as a success and noted that Lipocoat aimed to bring its first coated catheter to market within three years. Several milestones followed. In April 2022 Lipocoat and CEMMA announced a partnership for a coated CVC catheter. In January 2023 Lipocoat signed a collaboration agreement with Heraeus Medevio, a Heraeus Group portfolio company, to make the technology available in products for medical device OEMs. In May 2025 the TFDA approved the CEMMA and LipoCoat coated antifouling CVC catheter in Taiwan.

Evaluate LipoCoat® on your own device

The accelerator showed how a first evaluation can run: an early prototype, feedback and test results that decide whether the next step makes sense. If you develop catheters or other medical devices and want to know how an antifouling coating performs on your product, we would be glad to talk about an evaluation with your team.