m4 Award 2023
The team won the m4 Award with a prize money of 500,000€ by BioM and the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Economics and Energy.
m4 Award 2023Know the bug.
Before you treat.
UTI treatment is a guess. Clinicians prescribe empirically and get it wrong up to 50% of the time.
BugSense identifies bacterial infections at the bedside without a laboratory. So clinicians treat with evidence, not guesswork.
m4
Award winner · 2023
150+
Validated clinical samples
12h
Result
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The problemDoctors are guessing.
Doctors are guessing.
Patients pay the price.
Standard lab culture takes 2–4 days. Most patients are treated long before any result arrives — in every second case wrongly. The consequences compound into one of medicine’s most urgent crises: failed treatments, more resistant bacteria, and avoidable healthcare costs.
4 days
Average wait for a laboratory culture result — if the sample even arrives on time.
Robert Koch Institut · ECDC~50%
Of UTI prescriptions use the wrong antibiotic due to empirical treatment without culture data.
ESCMID Guidelines, 2022€3,500
Extra cost per complicated hospital UTI case caused by treatment failure and extended stay.
InEK DRG cost analysis60 – 80%
Of urine samples sent to central labs come back unremarkable — a majority of shipments produce no actionable result.
Porte et al. (2025, ScienceDirect)The solution
The diagnostic lab at the bedside.
BugSense is a handheld diagnostic system that identifies bacterial pathogens and antibiotic resistance directly at the point of care. No sample transport, no lab queue, no delay.
Pathogen-level specificity
Goes beyond dipstick tests. Identifies the organism and its resistance profile, enabling a more targeted treatment decision.
Same-day result
Informed results for the next clinical decision.
Decentralisation
No sample transport. No courier. No batch queue. BugSense runs at the GP clinic, urgent care centre, or rural hospital, no matter where the patient is present.
How it works
Point. Scan. Diagnose.
No lab, no sample preparation, no specialist required.
Step 010 min
Apply urine sample
Direct application to paper cassette. No sample prep. No centrifuge. No lab equipment.
Step 022 min
Insert into incubator
Compact mini-incubator maintains 37°C automatically. Fully hands-free. Fits on any desk.
Step 034–12 h
Scan with smartphone
The BugSense app reads colorimetric growth signals in real time using AI-supported kinetics.
Step 04Done
Receive clinical report
Infection status, pathogen ID, bacterial load, resistance profile (EUCAST S/I/R). Exportable.
Step 010 min
Apply urine sample
Direct application to paper cassette. No sample prep. No centrifuge. No lab equipment.
Step 022 min
Insert into incubator
Compact mini-incubator maintains 37°C automatically. Fully hands-free. Fits on any desk.
Step 034–12 h
Scan with smartphone
The BugSense app reads colorimetric growth signals in real time using AI-supported kinetics.
Step 04Done
Receive clinical report
Infection status, pathogen ID, bacterial load, resistance profile (EUCAST S/I/R). Exportable.
Who benefits
Built for everyone in the care chain.
Clinicians & GPs
Treat with confidence. Not probability.
Prescribe the right antibiotic the first time, every time.
See publicationHospital Systems
Cut re-admissions.
Every misdiagnosis is a re-admission. BugSense reduces broad-spectrum antibiotic use, lowers resistance pressure, and cuts downstream treatment costs.
See the evidencePartners & Distributors
Not a single product.
BugSense is expanding across infection types. UTI is the entry point into a high-frequency, high-margin diagnostic category with global reach.
Explore partnershipTraction
Clinically validated.
95%
Specificity identifying pathogens*
Strong
Partnerships with clinic and industry
International
Patent granted
Active
CE marking pathway
Rapid direct disk diffusion testing for antibiotic resistance in urinary tract infections: a bacterial concentration-adjusted approach.
American Society for Microbiology (ASM), 2025.
Backed by
About BugSenseThe technology works.
The technology works.
Now we build the company.
BugSense was founded to solve a problem that has persisted for decades: doctors treating UTIs cannot access microbiological culture data at the point where the prescribing decision is made.
We built a paper-based platform that replicates the essential steps of clinical microbiology: filtration, incubation, colorimetric detection, and antibiotic susceptibility testing, without a laboratory. Born from research at Technical University Munich, validated with clinical partners at MRI Munich (Klinikum rechts der Isar).
2023
GO-Bio funded · m⁴ Award · Patent filed
2024
n=142 clinical validation completed
2025
Published in ASM · Pilots launching
2027
Launch BugSense Basic
BugSense TUM IdeAward
The BugSense team won the IdeAward from Zeidler-Stiftung dotated with a prize money of 12,500€.
BugSense TUM IdeAwardBugSense is changing UTI diagnostics
Featured in Arzt & Karriere Newsletter.
BugSense is changing UTI diagnosticsPodcast on UTIs and Female Health
A conversation about urinary tract infections, female health, and how BugSense is changing diagnostics.
Podcast on UTIs and Female HealthNews & Updates
Latest from BugSense.
m4 Award 2023
The team won the m4 Award with a prize money of 500,000€ by BioM and the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Economics and Energy.
Read article
BugSense TUM IdeAward
BugSense is changing UTI diagnostics
Podcast on UTIs and Female Health
m4 Award 2023
The team won the m4 Award with a prize money of 500,000€ by BioM and the Bavarian Ministry of Economic Affairs, Regional Economics and Energy.
Read articleBugSense TUM IdeAward
The BugSense team won the IdeAward from Zeidler-Stiftung dotated with a prize money of 12,500€.
Watch videoBugSense is changing UTI diagnostics
Featured in Arzt & Karriere Newsletter.
Read articlePodcast on UTIs and Female Health
A conversation about urinary tract infections, female health, and how BugSense is changing diagnostics.
Listen nowLet’s move diagnostics to where decisions are made — close to the patient.
Whether you’re a clinician, investor, or a provider in the healthcare system, there is a conversation worth having.
For investors
Back the future of diagnostics
We’re raising our seed round. Access our data room, meet the team, and see why the timing has never been more right for BugSense.
Request data room
For clinical partnersPilot BugSense in your institution
We’re onboarding clinical pilot partners now. Join the sites already using BugSense to improve patient outcomes.
Start a pilot
For distributorsBring BugSense to your market
We’re exploring regional distribution partnerships in DACH and beyond. Let’s talk about what paper-based diagnostics could mean for your portfolio.
Start a conversation