Ehninger and Oetker family offices invest in Cancilico €2.5M Seed Round

Cancilico, a Dresden-based HealthTech startup developing AI-powered diagnostic solutions for hematology, has raised €2.5 million in seed funding. The investor consortium includes High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF), TGFS Technologiegründerfonds Sachsen, GEDAD GmbH (the Ehninger family office), and ROI Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH (the Oetker family office). The company intends to use the funds to bring its AI-based diagnostic software MyeloAID to market maturity and overcome FDA and CE-IVDR regulatory requirements. Founded in 2023 in the environment of the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden, Cancilico’s flagship product MyeloAID analyzes bone marrow samples using artificial intelligence to enable faster and more precise diagnoses for hematological diseases including blood cancers. The software’s data model is based on a validated dataset of various blood cancer types as well as data from healthy individuals, enabling better classification. A key differentiator is its platform-independent design, allowing the software to function on any standard imaging microscope or scanner without requiring laboratories to replace existing hardware infrastructure. MyeloAID is already available as a Research-Use-Only variant via Smart In Media’s PathoZoom® Scan & LiveView Suite. The founding team includes Markus Badstübner (CEO), Dr. Moritz Middeke (CMO), Tim Schmittmann, Sebastian Riechert, Dr. Jan Eckardt, Dr. Karsten Wendt, and founding investor Prof. Gerhard Ehninger.

About the Ehninger and Oetker family offices

GEDAD GmbH is the Dresden-based family holding company of Prof. Gerhard Ehninger, a world-renowned hematologist and oncologist who served as Director of Medical Clinic I at the University Hospital Carl Gustav Carus Dresden from 1994 to 2018 and is also a founding investor of Cancilico. Prof. Ehninger co-founded the Deutsche Knochenmarkspenderdatei (DKMS) in 1991, which has grown into the world’s largest bone marrow donor registry with over six million registered donors and operations in Poland, the UK, Spain, and the United States. In May 2025, he was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his scientific, medical, and social achievements. He currently serves as CMO of AvenCell Europe GmbH and managing partner of Cellex Cell Professionals, continuing his work on innovative immunological cancer treatments including genetically modified T-cell therapies.

ROI Verwaltungsgesellschaft mbH, founded in 1981 by Roland Oetker, is a Düsseldorf-based investment company focusing on high-tech companies, particularly in the biotech and medtech sectors. Roland Oetker, a member of the entrepreneurial Oetker family behind the Dr. Oetker food and consumer goods conglomerate founded in 1891, has built a portfolio of healthcare-related investments including stakes in companies such as faCellitate and AYOXXA Biosystems. The family’s broader holdings, now divided between Dr. August Oetker KG and Geschwister Oetker Beteiligungen KG following a 2021 restructuring, include interests in food, brewing, sparkling wine, banking, and luxury hotels.

Picture Source: Unsplash+ (26.01.2026)
Article Source: HTGF (26.01.2026)