Source: Latam Republic, by Latam Republic. AI-generated summary by biochip.com, published . Not independently reviewed.
Key takeaways
- Doroth raised R$23 million, about US$4.51 million, in a round led by Brazilian molecular diagnostics company Loccus.
- Doroth plans an automated microfluidic chip plant with capacity for up to 4 million chips annually.
- The companies have not stated a construction timeline, plant location, or clinical and field-performance validation data.
Brazilian diagnostics deeptech Doroth has raised R$23 million, about US$4.51 million, to move its lab-on-a-chip technology toward industrial-scale manufacturing. The round, led by molecular diagnostics and instrumentation company Loccus, combines private investment with funding from Finep and Fapesp. A central target is a facility Doroth describes as Latin America’s first microfluidic chip manufacturing plant, designed to make as many as 4 million chips a year. Microfluidic chips are small devices that channel tiny volumes of liquid through carefully designed pathways, allowing molecular tests to automate multiple laboratory steps in a compact format. Doroth intends to use the new manufacturing capacity to serve agricultural diagnostics, including tests for pathogens, microorganisms, genetically modified organisms, and resistance genes. The partnership pairs Doroth’s research and product-development capabilities with Loccus’ production infrastructure, regulatory support, and distribution channels. It signals a push to manufacture in Brazil not only diagnostic instruments and disposable chips, but also key reagents such as enzymes and lyophilized reagent beads.
From Laboratory Platform to Factory Output
Doroth, founded in 2019 and headquartered in Piracicaba, São Paulo, develops lab-on-a-chip platforms for molecular diagnostics. Its systems bring together molecular biology, microfluidics, engineering, electronics, optics, automation, and software to carry out workflows that traditionally require several pieces of laboratory equipment.
Think of the platform as a miniature, automated laboratory bench. It can integrate sample preparation, extraction of genetic material, amplification of target sequences, and analysis of the result within compact equipment, reducing the need to move samples manually from one instrument to another.
A Manufacturing Partnership With Loccus
Loccus led the investment and will provide manufacturing capability, infrastructure, scientific knowledge, regulatory support, and access to technologies in its existing portfolio. Doroth will focus on developing products and raising funds, creating a division of labor intended to shorten the route from validated technology to commercial production.
Eduardo Araújo, CEO of Loccus, framed the deal as a response to a familiar deeptech challenge: strong scientific work does not automatically create the capacity to manufacture at volume. The companies expect their combination to accelerate development of new tests while increasing production of equipment, chips, and reagents.
The Proposed Microfluidic Chip Plant
One major use of the new capital will be construction of the microfluidic chip plant. Rodrigo Gurdos, Doroth’s founder and Director of New Business, said the facility is planned to produce up to 4 million chips annually.
The proposed operation will be automated, including precision robots that handle lyophilized beads, small spheres containing dried diagnostic reagents. Drying reagents can make them easier to store and incorporate into a disposable test format, much like a premeasured ingredient packet that is activated only when liquid is added.
The factory is also expected to include delta robots, fast robotic systems often used for pick-and-place work, to assemble chips without human handling. Doroth plans to make lyobeads and proprietary enzymes on site for quantitative polymerase chain reaction, loop-mediated isothermal amplification, and Extreme PCR, all methods used to amplify genetic material so it can be detected.
Diagnostics for the Agricultural Chain
Doroth’s initial expansion focus is agriculture. Its systems are designed to examine leaves, seeds, grains, milk, and meat for biological signals that can indicate pathogens, microorganisms, genetically modified organisms, or genes associated with resistance.
Those applications span several points in the agribusiness supply chain, including plant and animal health, raw-material quality, traceability, and monitoring of agroindustrial processes. The platform can also be used to detect infectious agents in insect vectors such as the corn leafhopper and Aedes aegypti, the mosquito associated with several public-health diseases.
One planned product is Extreme PCR, which Gurdos said can produce results in less than five minutes. PCR, or polymerase chain reaction, works by copying selected genetic sequences until there is enough material to measure, similar to repeatedly photocopying a faint line until it becomes readable.
Building a Domestic Supply Chain
The investment is intended to expand Doroth’s research, development, and production structure, including chips with proprietary reagents embedded in them. That approach could join consumables and biochemical ingredients more tightly, so a test device arrives with key reaction components already positioned for use.
Doroth and Loccus also aim to build a domestic technology chain covering enzymes, molecular assays, sensors, automated instruments, and microfluidic consumables. The companies position Brazilian production as a way to reduce dependence on imported reagents and sensors while supporting more decentralized molecular testing for agriculture.
Loccus’ Broader Deeptech Strategy
For Loccus, the transaction extends a strategy built around open innovation, venture building, and corporate venture capital. Its Bios and Nanos programs have selected more than 20 deeptech companies for the Loccus ecosystem.
Bios targets biotechnology, health care, agribusiness, molecular diagnostics, and the bioeconomy. Nanos focuses on nanotechnology, advanced materials, and other high-complexity technologies, connecting startups and researchers with scientific institutions and industry.
Why This Matters
Microfluidic diagnostics can only become widely available if developers can manufacture chips and reagents consistently at scale. Doroth’s funding and partnership place that manufacturing problem at the center of its next phase, rather than treating the chip merely as a research prototype.
The planned facility could give Brazil a larger role in producing the physical components behind molecular tests for agricultural use. Its significance will depend on execution: building the automated plant, translating platforms into deployable products, and demonstrating that the resulting tests perform reliably across real samples and operating conditions.
MOA Ventures advised Loccus on structuring the investment and coordinates its Bios and Nanos programs, while S4 Consultoria served as Doroth’s exclusive financial advisor. The next visible milestone will be whether the companies can convert their combined research, manufacturing, and distribution resources into the planned chip production capacity and agricultural diagnostic products.