smartbax announces a €4.7 M Pre-Series A round to advance novel antibiotic compound through preclinical stage
- Lead antibacterial compound against a novel target in Gram-negative bacteria validated in infection models
- Progressing a platform of small-molecule enzymatic activators that induce self-digestion of bacteria as novel mode of action against multi-drug resistant Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria
- Funding round led by Anobis Asset and Bayern Kapital; second closing remains open
Munich, Germany, Oct. 22, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- smartbax, a biotech company developing next-generation antibiotics against multi-drug resistant bacteria, today announced the successful first closing of its €4.7 M Pre-Series A financing round. The round was led by new investors Anobis Asset and Bayern Kapital, with participation from UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators as well as existing investors HTGF – High-Tech Gründerfonds and Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF). A second closing of the round remains open to investors.
smartbax will use the funds to progress its proprietary pipeline of small-molecule antibiotics designed to overcome bacterial resistance with innovative approaches and novel mechanisms of action. The lead candidate is an inhibitor that blocks a previously unexplored step in the synthesis of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), key structural components of the outer membrane in Gram-negative bacteria. This new inhibitor has already demonstrated in vivo proof of concept, including activity against multi-drug resistant strains, shows potential as an orally available drug, and will now be advanced through preclinical development.
In parallel, smartbax is advancing its platform of small-molecule activators of bacterial hydrolases. Rather than inhibiting bacterial functions like traditional antibiotics, these compounds stimulate hydrolase activity, causing bacteria to digest themselves from within. This innovative mode of action has not been exploited in commercial antibiotics to date and offers a promising strategy to overcome established resistance mechanisms. smartbax has identified two activator classes, effective against different targets in Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria, both of which display encouraging drug-like properties, are able to eliminate biofilms and show no development of resistance. The company will further develop these candidates toward lead selection and in vivo proof of concept using the current funds.
“Small-molecule antibiotics remain one of the most effective tools in combating the rapidly growing threat of antimicrobial resistance. smartbax is currently the only German biotech dedicated exclusively to developing these crucial tools, and we are proud to advance complementary approaches with both a classical inhibitor against a novel target and enzyme activators with a truly novel mode of action in the antibiotic realm,” said Dr. Robert Macsics, CEO of smartbax. “Our programs focus on WHO priority pathogens and aim to provide new treatment options for critically ill patients who currently have limited alternatives. We are delighted to have assembled such a strong consortium of investors who share our commitment to addressing this urgent public health threat.”
Martin Falk, managing director at Anobis Asset, said: “Antibiotic resistance is one of the most urgent medical challenges of our time, and there is a clear need for new therapeutic approaches. In Germany alone, nearly 10,000 people die each year as a direct consequence of infections with multi-drug resistant bacteria; many more are hospitalized and often face lengthy recovery times. We are proud to support a team focused on developing solutions that could help patients and protect public health worldwide.”
Monika Steger, Managing Partner at Bayern Kapital, commented: “Rising bacterial resistance to antibiotics poses an enormous burden on global healthcare. smartbax is tackling this problem with two novel drug approaches that are already showing great potential at their current stage. At the same time, the market for new antibiotics is opening up a highly attractive growth area with great economic opportunities. Our investment in smartbax is therefore a promising investment in the local biotech ecosystem and the resilience of our healthcare system.”
Inga vom Holtz, Director Investments at UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators, added: “smartbax has grown from academic research into a biotech company with a clear focus on antibiotic innovation. We are pleased to join this financing round and to support a team that is advancing both classical inhibitors and entirely new antibacterial mechanisms with enzyme activators, and we are proud that such innovation has its origins at the Technical University Munich.”
About smartbax
smartbax is developing a new generation of antibiotics to address the increasing spread of multi-drug resistant bacteria. Their team of experts is advancing a complementary pipeline of small molecules against novel bacterial targets and with innovative modes of action to prevent resistance. Their lead program is a new inhibitor of lipopolysaccharide synthesis in Gram-negative bacteria. Moreover, the company specializes in the tailored activation of enzymatic pathways that trigger bacterial self-digestion, as this approach is particularly promising in the context of difficult-to-treat biofilms. Two activators are in development, targeting both Gram-positive bacteria and Gram-negative bacteria individually.
Knowing that preventing a resistance crisis tomorrow means taking action today, smartbax was founded in 2021 as a spin-off of the Technical University Munich (TUM) with the aim of making innovative research applicable in creating novel antibiotics that add true value for patients worldwide.
For more information visit our website: https://www.smartbax.de/
Media contact:
Dr. Regina Lutz, Katja Arnold
MC Services AG
smartbax@mc-services.eu
About Anobis Asset
As a Freiburg-based single family office with a background in the pharmaceutical industry, Anobis Asset is actively exploring investment opportunities across the healthcare and life sciences landscape, with a focus on innovation-driven ventures and long-term partnerships.
About Bayern Kapital
Bayern Kapital is the venture capital company of the Free State of Bavaria and, with 700 million euros under management, investments of up to 25 million euros per company, over 110 active portfolio companies and 30 years of experience in the VC business, is one of the most active, financially strongest and most experienced investors in the DACH region. Bayern Kapital invests in a consortium with private investors in Bavarian high-tech and deep-tech start-ups and scale-ups with innovative business models from all sectors, from the seed and scale-up phase through to exit.
Since its foundation in 1995, Bayern Kapital has invested over 500 million euros of its own equity capital in more than 320 start-ups and scale-ups from sectors such as life sciences, software & IT, materials & new materials, nanotechnology and environmental technology. This has created over 12,000 permanent jobs in sustainable companies in Bavaria.
Examples of numerous pioneering success stories that Bayern Kapital has supported from an early stage include Casavi, Catalym, commercetools, egym, EOS, Fazua, Immunic, Isar Aerospace, IQM, Parcellab, Proglove, Qbilon, Riskmethods, SimScale, Sirion, tado, Tubulis, Marvel Fusion, Proxima Fusion, plancq, Akhetonics and many more. bayernkapital.de
About UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators
UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators is the pre-seed fund of UnternehmerTUM, Europe's foremost center for innovation and business creation. It invests early - often as the first institutional investor - in deep tech founders building category-defining companies. The fund specializes in hard tech and the code that powers it, backing scalable B2B technologies with billion-euro potential and helping founders move breakthrough science from lab to market. UnternehmerTUM Funding for Innovators offers founder-friendly convertible loans and is committed to follow-on investments, ensuring its companies have the resources to scale their ambitions.
About HTGF - High-Tech Gründerfonds
HTGF is one of the leading and most active early-stage investors in Germany and Europe, financing startups in the fields of Deep Tech, Industrial Tech, Climate Tech, Digital Tech, Life Sciences and Chemistry. With its experienced investment team, HTGF supports startups in all phases of their development into international market leaders. HTGF invests in pre-seed and seed phases and can participate significantly in later-stage financing rounds. Since its inception in 2005, HTGF has financed around 800 startups and achieved 200 successful exits. HTGF has a fund volume of over 2 billion euros.
Fund investors in the public-private partnership include the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy, KfW Capital as well as 45 companies and family offices.
For more information, please visit HTGF.de or follow us on LinkedIn.
About Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund
The Boehringer Ingelheim Venture Fund (BIVF), established in 2010, is dedicated to investing in groundbreaking biotechnology companies that are at the forefront of therapeutic and digital innovations, aiming to advance biomedical research. With a commitment to revolutionizing the standard of care, the BIVF fosters long-term partnerships with scientists and entrepreneurs. The BIVF’s focus is on nurturing disease-modifying therapeutic concepts and facilitating their clinical application. The BIVF prioritizes the translation of first-in-class concepts that address significant medical needs in fields such as oncology, immunology, regenerative medicine, neurodegeneration, infectious diseases, and digital health technologies. These innovative concepts often encompass novel platform technologies designed to tackle targets and diseases that were previously considered untreatable.
With a fund volume of EUR 350 million, the BIVF operates as an evergreen fund, continually reinvesting to fuel its mission. The partners of the BIVF gain from the fund's deep expertise in drug discovery & development, translational science, and management, along with access to a network of experts within the Boehringer Ingelheim organization. Currently, the BIVF supports a diverse portfolio of over 40 companies, leveraging its extensive experience to drive progress in healthcare.
For additional information, please visit boehringer-ingelheim-venture.com/
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