About Phaeosynt
Our mission: Animal-free. Innovative. High quality.
At Phaeosynt, we have made it our mission to rethink antibody production: away from animal models and towards an environmentally friendly and resource-saving diatom platform. With our interdisciplinary team of biotechnologists, chemists and economists, we are shaping the future of diagnostics and research – always under the highest quality and ethical standards.
About us
Foundation
Founded in 2023 by a team of biotechnologists and economists in Hanover, Phaeosynt started out with the idea of producing antibodies in diatoms instead of in animals or animal cell cultures.
Unsere Meilensteine
- 2021: Start der Entwicklung einer tierfreien Antikörperproduktion auf Basis von Kieselalgen
- 2022: Erhalt des Gründungsstipendiums, Entwicklung der ersten Schwangerschaftsantikörper, Etablierung erster Produktionsprozesse im Labormaßstab
- 2023: Weiterentwicklung der Schwangerschaftsantikörper, Entwicklung des veganen Schwangerschaftstests, Closing der Pre-Seed Runde
- 2024: Validierung des Schwangerschaftstests, Aufbau des interdisziplinären Teams, Start erster Forschungs- und Kooperationsprojekte, Förderzusagen von Partner:innen und Institutionen
- 2025: Closing der Seed-Runde, Vorbereitung der Serienproduktion von hey mela®, Start der Markteinführung von hey mela®, Vorbereitung der Internationalisierung und Antikörper-Skalierung
Our team
Behind every success are people: Get to know our experts – from antibody development to product quality and business development. Together, we create innovations that combine passion and responsibility.
Stephanie Pfeil-Coenenen
CEO, Management, Finance, Sales
Dr. Alina Eilers
COO, Management, Marketing, Quality Management
Stas Hans
CTO, Research, Development
Eva-Maria Plönnigs
Head of Production, Laboratory and Production Management
Lina Altmann
Online Marketing Manager
Ilka Kerren
Production Manager, cloning and upstream expert
Leo Käufler
Research developer
Luca Hoffmann
Biological-technical assistance
Stephanie Pfeil-Coenenen
CEO, Management, Finance, Sales
Dr. Alina Eilers
COO, Management, Marketing, Quality Management
Stas Hans
CTO, Research, Development
Eva-Maria Plönnigs
Head of Production, Laboratory and Production Management
Lina Altmann
Online Marketing Manager
Ilka Kerren
Production Manager, cloning and upstream expert
Leo Käufler
Research developer
Johanna Temps
Working student for production management
Luca Hoffmann
Biological-technical assistance
Our advisory board
Dr. Maren Wichmann
The molecular biologist has been working on recombinant antibodies and heterologous protein production at Leibniz Universität Hannover since completing her doctorate. She teaches genetics and molecular biology there.
Dr. Thomas Reinard
Dr. Reinard’s research group at Leibniz Universität Hannover focuses on the production of medically relevant proteins in plants and diatoms. He is a lecturer in molecular biology and bioinformatics and author of the textbook “Molecular Biological Methods 2.0” (3rd edition).
Dr. Ingo Dahm
Digital pioneer from the very beginning, business angel and investor in Impact Startups with his company capacura GmbH
Katharina Borchert
Journalist, former Managing Director at Spiegel Online and Chief Innovation Officer at Mozilla Corporation.
Dr. Gunter Dunkel
Economist and entrepreneur, including member of the Supervisory Board of Continental AG, Managing Director of dunkel.investments and former Chairman of the Management Board of NordLB Hannover.
Dr. Maren Wichmann
The molecular biologist has been working on recombinant antibodies and heterologous protein production at Leibniz Universität Hannover since completing her doctorate. She teaches genetics and molecular biology there.
Dr. Thomas Reinard
Dr. Reinard’s research group at Leibniz Universität Hannover focuses on the production of medically relevant proteins in plants and diatoms. He is a lecturer in molecular biology and bioinformatics and author of the textbook “Molecular Biological Methods 2.0” (3rd edition).
Dr. Ingo Dahm
Digital pioneer from the very beginning, business angel and investor in Impact Startups with his company capacura GmbH
Katharina Borchert
Journalist, former Managing Director at Spiegel Online and Chief Innovation Officer at Mozilla Corporation.
Dr. Gunter Dunkel
Economist and entrepreneur, including member of the Supervisory Board of Continental AG, Managing Director of dunkel.investments and former Chairman of the Management Board of NordLB Hannover.
Mission
We develop 100% animal-free antibody solutions that deliver the highest purity, cost efficiency and reproducible quality using state-of-the-art diatom biotechnology. We consistently focus on sustainability – from the cultivation of the algae to the end product.
Vision
Our goal is to establish Phaeosynt as the global standard for ethical and highly scalable antibodies. We are driving the global spread of animal-free diagnostics and thus enabling a paradigm shift in research, medicine and industry.
