The Record of Annaida's EIC Accelerator Embryo Metabolism Scanner

An IVF embryologist choosing which embryo to transfer still mostly looks at it under a microscope and judges its shape. Annaida Technologies, a spin-off from the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), set out to give that choice a number: a magnetic resonance sensor small enough to read the chemistry of a single embryo, about a fifth of a millimetre across, without touching it. In the EIC Accelerator pilot's March 2020 cut-off the European Commission selected its project Embryospin, grant only, under the name "ANNAIDA TECHNOLOGIES SARL", according to the Commission's list of selected companies. The list names no other beneficiary for the project. The company had in fact already become a société anonyme in June 2019, according to the Swiss commercial register (Zefix).

CORDIS records an EU contribution of €1,611,687 towards a total cost of €2,302,410, with the project running from 1 February 2021 to 31 March 2023 and the grant agreement signed on 29 April 2021. The objective promised that Embryospin equipment and disposable sensors "will serve up to 3,500 IVF treatments, generating 33 M€ of revenues by 2025". Six and a half years after the cut-off, Annaida is active, has raised more private money and won an ISO 13485 certificate. Its embryo product, microMRS-MED, is described on its own website as "a research-use-only device under development and not approved for clinical use".

Where Annaida Stands in 2026

Annaida is operating. The Zefix register lists it as existing, with Fiduconsult Lausanne SA as auditor since 2023 and its latest register entry, a board change, published on 28 October 2025. On 12 June 2026 the company announced that it had achieved ISO 13485:2016 certification, the quality management standard for medical device makers. A certificate of this kind is a precondition for building a regulated device, not an approval of one.

In April 2025 it closed what it called an "oversubscribed" pre-Series A round led by HEMEX, with Zürcher Kantonalbank, Excellis, EFI Lake Geneva Ventures and members of the Italian angel network Club degli Investitori, according to its press release and website. The amount was not disclosed. The register shows the matching steps: in December 2024 claims of CHF 814,998.22 were converted into 2,326,587 new pre-Series A shares, and in April 2025 a further 1,420,312 pre-Series A shares were issued, taking registered share capital to CHF 247,066.42, according to the publications collected by Zefix. The same release said the company was "generating its first revenues through research product sales"; no revenue figure has been published.

The Technology: Magnetic Resonance at the Scale of One Cell

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy identifies molecules by how their atomic nuclei respond to a magnetic field and radio waves. It is non-destructive, but laboratory instruments need far larger samples than a single embryo. Annaida's sensor puts the excitation and detection electronics on a microchip right under the sample, which the CORDIS objective says raises sensitivity "by an order of magnitude (10x)" over the state of the art. The idea came out of EPFL research by Marco Grisi, who has a PhD in microelectronics for NMR, according to the company's team page. The core patent, "Miniaturized MR device comprising a cell culture micro-chamber", names Grisi, Giovanni Boero, Jürgen Brugger and co-founder Gaurasundar Conley as inventors and lists EPFL as assignee; it was granted in the United States on 20 May 2025, according to Google Patents. Annaida's own announcements report grants of the same family in Europe, Japan, China, the United States and Israel. How Annaida holds rights to an EPFL-owned patent is not public.

The alternatives in IVF are visual grading, time-lapse imaging of the embryo's development, and genetic testing that needs a biopsy of a few cells. Annaida's pitch is a chemical read-out without a biopsy. Its clinic product page describes a "smart dish" with four embryos loaded into the magnet on the day of transfer and an AI analysis of the spectra, with results "within an hour", according to the microMRS-MED page.

What the EIC Project Promised, and What CORDIS Shows

Embryospin was Annaida's second EU grant under the same name. A Phase 1 feasibility study received €50,000 of a €71,429 budget from December 2018 to May 2019, according to CORDIS. The Phase 2 project, the one selected in March 2020, started on 1 February 2021, nearly eleven months after the cut-off. CORDIS names Annaida as sole beneficiary and HEMEX AG of Liestal, the investor that led Annaida's seed and pre-Series A rounds, as a linked third party with a net EU contribution of €91,000 and costs of €130,000. HEMEX's representative Pascal Winnen has sat on Annaida's board since June 2019, according to Zefix. What work HEMEX carried out in the project is not stated on CORDIS.

The final periodic report, for February 2022 to March 2023, lists four results: statistically relevant data that exposing embryos to the magnetic field caused no adverse effects in mice, measured on development, implantation, litter size and pup development; a lower-power and more sensitive sensor; biomarker tests on bovine embryos, other mammalian embryos and "ultimately on donated human oocytes"; and a demonstrator "available for demonstrations at Annaida's laboratories". It says the results "paved the way for the next phases of clinical testing" and that partnerships "will position Annaida to the next phase, clinical trials". In other words, clinical testing had not begun when the EU money ended. CORDIS lists one peer-reviewed paper, in the Journal of Magnetic Resonance in 2021, which EPFL described as the first NMR spectra of single bovine embryos, shipped frozen and measured after thawing in under an hour.

1. Embryo safety under the magnetic fieldDeliveredMultigenerational mouse study, CORDIS report and PNAS 2025.
2. Working Embryospin systemDeliveredDemonstrator built; probes now sold to research labs as microMRS-LAB.
3. Embryo viability markerPartialShown on bovine embryos; human oocytes only, no human embryos.
4. Clinical use in IVFNot achievedNo clinical study announced; device not approved under EU MDR or by the FDA.
5. 3,500 IVF treatments and €33M revenue by 2025Not achievedNo clinical sales possible; only research product sales mentioned.

What the Science Shows So Far

The main published result came after the project. In July 2025 Annaida's team, with co-authors from Stanford, the University of Milan, Paladis and the Lausanne university hospital (CHUV), reported in PNAS measurements on "over 150" bovine embryos and oocytes. A classifier trained on spectra of 61 day-2 bovine embryos picked out those that went on to develop with an area under the curve of 0.942 and an accuracy of 0.92. The same paper reports a precision of 0.60, because only 7 of the 61 embryos developed. The paper discloses that Grisi "has relevant ownership in Annaida" and is inventor of a related patent.

Two months later, Grisi told The Analytical Scientist that "the technology has not been tested on human embryos", that early regulatory discussions were under way, and that he could not disclose partnerships or timelines. Annaida's page for fertility clinics now cites results on donated human oocytes, and states that its accuracy figures for embryo development come from "in vitro-produced bovine embryos".

The Money Since the Award

Annaida has financed itself through a mix of private rounds and public grants. Its seed round in spring 2020, weeks after the EIC selection, raised CHF 1 million in an oversubscribed round led by HEMEX with Zürcher Kantonalbank, Fongit Seed Invest, Business Angels Switzerland, Privilège Ventures, Venture Kick and an angel investor, according to Venture Kick on 9 April 2020 and IMD; the register recorded a capital increase decided on 30 April 2020. In January 2024 the company announced an Innosuisse Startup Innovation Project grant "worth up to CHF 1.2M" on its website; the PNAS paper acknowledges Innosuisse grants 39821.1 IP-LS and 110.964 SIP-LS. The PNAS paper also credits Horizon 2020 grant agreement No. 681002, which CORDIS lists as EU-ToxRisk, a toxicology project coordinated by Leiden University in which Annaida is not named; the Embryospin grant 959600 is not cited in the paper.

Since April 2024 Annaida has been a partner in HYPERCELL, an EIC Transition project that pairs NVision Quantum Technologies' hyperpolarisation platform with Annaida's microscale sensor to track cell metabolism, first in embryos. CORDIS lists the whole EU contribution of €1,998,750 with the German coordinator NVision and shows Annaida as a partner that does not sign the grant agreement, with a net EU contribution of €0.00; the project ran to 30 September 2026. Annaida's own announcement calls it an "EU horizon grant awarded", and its 2025 release speaks of support from EIC Transition. Who pays for Annaida's part of HYPERCELL is not stated in either source. The project's first report says Annaida built sensor prototypes for volumes down to 1 nanolitre and redesigned the sensor head to fit standard benchtop NMR systems.

Annaida is not among the 326 organisations on the EIC Fund's list of invested companies, checked across all pages; its 2020 award was grant only. Because Swiss private companies do not publish accounts, its revenue, losses, cash and staff numbers could not be verified. The company's team page names four managers and a scientific advisory board that includes Nobel laureate Kurt Wüthrich.

Why It Matters for Europe

The EU's total fertility rate fell to 1.34 live births per woman in 2024, from 1.53 in 2021, and 3.55 million babies were born in the EU in 2024, according to Eurostat. The Embryospin report states that Europe performs almost 50% of all reported assisted reproduction cycles and that only 33% of women become pregnant after a first IVF cycle. A reliable non-invasive way to rank embryos would mean fewer cycles per birth. It would also be medical device technology developed and patented in Europe, but the decisive step for it, clinical evidence for approval under the EU Medical Device Regulation, is still ahead, as the company's own product page acknowledges.

The Verdict

Annaida has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based on public records and published statements, linked throughout.