Dortmund-based iDEL Therapeutics announced the closing of a €9 million Seed financing, to develop a pipeline of cancer therapeutics that are delivered directly into the cytosol of tumor cells.
The financing was led by BiomedVC with participation from NRW.Venture, Gründerfonds Ruhr and the KHAN Technology Transfer Fund II.
“iDEL Therapeutics’ concept to unlock new cancer treatments represents an exciting new opportunity with the potential to significantly impact the oncology landscape,” says Marcus Kostka, PhD, co-founder and CEO of iDEL Therapeutics.
Comparable activity includes Germany-based T-CURX, which secured €17.7 million to develop non-viral CAR-T therapies, and Switzerland’s FoRx Therapeutics, which raised €42 million to advance DNA repair-targeting oncology treatments.
Additional rounds include France-based ErVimmune (€17 million for immunotherapy approaches), the UK’s Umlaut.bio (~€3 million pre-Seed for cancer and immunology programmes), and Ternary Therapeutics (€4.1 million to target undruggable proteins using AI-designed molecular glues).
Together, these rounds amount to approximately €83.8 million, reflecting sustained investment into diverse oncology modalities, including cell therapies, immunotherapy, and novel molecular targeting strategies.
Within this context, iDEL Therapeutics represents an earlier-stage but aligned effort, particularly in addressing intracellular delivery challenges; notably, Germany appears more than once, highlighting continued national activity in the sector, while BiomedVC’s involvement in both iDEL Therapeutics and T-CURX signals ongoing investor focus on differentiated cancer treatment platforms.
“Our technology’s broad applicability to a range of drug classes harbors the potential to improve treatment outcomes for patients living with a range of high-need cancer indications. Together with the leadership team, I look forward to expanding our preclinical proof-of-concept data, advancing our lead candidates toward the clinic and exploring additional possibilities for improved cancer treatments,” adds Marcus.
Founded in 2025, iDEL Therapeutics leverages a unique pan-cancer uptake mechanism that reportedly achieves high intracellular drug exposure and sustained tumor retention. Their synthetic shuttle technology platform evades endosomal trapping and is compatible with both large and small molecules, including nanobodies against oncogenes and tumor-targeted cytotoxic payloads.
They are currently focused on advancing their pipeline towards the clinic and creating scalable value through partnerships.
iDEL’s approach is allegedly compatible with both large and small molecules and aims to unlock historically undruggable intracellular targets and broaden therapeutic windows across cancer indications.
“Despite continuous advancements and a deeper understanding of cancer in our industry, current treatment options still face challenges related to on-target specificity and achieving a durable anti-tumor effect,” says Aristotelis Nastos, PhD, Managing Partner and Investment Director at BiomedVC. “We believe that iDEL Therapeutics’ differentiated strategy has the potential to address these limitations by improving intracellular delivery, increasing target engagement and prolonging tumor retention.
“With an exceptional leadership team and a cutting-edge technology, the company is well positioned to advance this new therapeutic approach to deliver meaningful clinical benefit for cancer patients, and we fully support the team on this journey.”
The proceeds will be used to advance iDEL Therapeutics’ two proprietary lead programmes towards clinical evaluation. Leveraging different modalities with the potential to address a range of solid tumors, the pipeline candidates are based on the company’s proprietary shuttling technology.
This pan-cancer platform enables evasion of endosomal entrapment and prevents subsequent degradation of the transported compound, a factor that can impair drug delivery and treatment efficacy, particularly for large molecules such as antibodies and their derivatives.
Concurrent with today’s financing, iDEL Therapeutics announced its leadership team which combines decades of expertise in biopharma, drug development and company building.
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2026/03/german-biotech-idel-therapeutics-lands-e9-million-to-develop-cancer-therapeutics-platform/
