Editors observe: This partnership article is a part of a “PR Pack” reward by EU-Startups, Enterie PR community and Profeina PR company.
EIT Jumpstarter, a number one pre-acceleration program by the European Institute of Innovation and Know-how (EIT), helps early-stage innovators flip concepts into startups by way of mentorship, enterprise validation, and funding. Since its launch, it has educated over 1,180 entrepreneurs, supported 124 startups, and facilitated €150 million in funding, whereas offering entry to an enormous community of specialists and traders throughout Europe.
The Jumpstarter Grand Last is the end result of this program, the place prime startups pitch their concepts after months of intensive coaching. This yr, the initiative is increasing help for expertise from Ukraine, the Western Balkans, the Mediterranean, and the EU’s outermost areas. Registration for the 2025 version is already open!
At this time, we’ll dive into one of many many success tales of this programme—Frivolously, a deep-tech startup that’s revolutionising counterfeit drug detection. They developed Catcher, a conveyable detection machine that allows legislation enforcement to determine counterfeit medicines in actual time and hint their origins utilizing a patented UV-Fingerprint technique. Their innovation earned them second place within the EIT Well being class in 2023, adopted by a win in Publish-Jumpstarter 2024, additional validating their affect.
On this interview, Monika Štěpánová, CEO & Co-founder of Frivolously, shares insights into their journey, from early challenges to technological breakthroughs and their formidable plans to redefine counterfeit drug detection for police models, forensic groups, and past. Let’s dive proper into it!
Story, expertise, and affect
What motivated you to create Frivolously and give attention to combating counterfeit medicines? Was there a selected occasion or perception that sparked the thought?
Frivolously was born from our crew’s various backgrounds and a shared dedication to addressing international challenges. We met on the Division of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Mendel College in Brno, the place scientists and a enterprise and economics pupil collaborated on real-world issues.
Initially, our focus was on analyzing water and detecting counterfeit wine utilizing superior analytical strategies. Nonetheless, in 2019, earlier than Frivolously was even based, the police approached us after recognizing the potential of our expertise. They took us on a mission to the USA, the place we visited the DEA and Interpol. There, we noticed firsthand the devastating affect of the opioid disaster. Witnessing its scale and human toll gave us a transparent sense of goal.
We couldn’t stand by and let expertise with such potential sit on a shelf in a lab. We felt a accountability to use our information in a method that might make an actual distinction. From that second, we devoted ourselves to preventing counterfeit medication, notably these fueling the opioid disaster. Our mission grew to become clear: to equip legislation enforcement with the instruments to detect counterfeit medicines shortly and hint them to their supply. This journey, pushed by collaboration and the idea that innovation have to be utilized the place it issues most, continues to information us.
What’s Catcher? Are you able to share extra about how this concept advanced and the way you included the single-use cartridges, Fenty, into the answer?
Catcher is a conveyable machine designed to assist police determine counterfeit medicines on the spot and hint their origins. It makes use of a patented “UV-Fingerprint” technique to research samples, creating a singular chemical profile for exact identification. Outcomes can be found in below 10 minutes and are robotically uploaded to a world database, enabling the cross-matching of particular person circumstances—one thing no different answer available on the market affords.
The worldwide counterfeit drug disaster fuels a $200 billion unlawful market, with pretend medicines inflicting not less than 250,000 deaths yearly. The opioid epidemic alone accounts for 600,000 drug-related deaths worldwide, pushed by fentanyl, which is 50 instances stronger than heroin, and located in 7 out of 10 counterfeit tablets. In the meantime, the drug screening market, valued at €8 billion, is projected to develop to €20 billion by 2030, but present options are both sluggish lab exams or primary subject kits—that is the place Catcher stands out.
We plan to scale Catcher past legislation enforcement by increasing into authorities businesses, border management, non-public safety, and pharmacies, concentrating on key organizations like DOGE and comparable businesses to boost drug enforcement effectivity. With a {hardware} + consumables mannequin, our income comes from machine gross sales, recurring cartridge utilization and a world database, guaranteeing predictable progress.
How does Catcher work together with Fenty cartridges, and what makes it notably efficient in figuring out counterfeit medicines?
Catcher and Fenty cartridges work collectively by way of a easy three-step course of designed for ease of use and excessive accuracy:
- Insert the pattern into the single-use Fenty cartridge: The cartridge ensures standardized pattern preparation, making the method simple and dependable, even for non-experts.
- Place the cartridge into the Catcher machine: The machine makes use of patented “UV-Fingerprint” expertise to research the chemical composition of the pattern, producing a singular profile.
- Obtain speedy outcomes: Inside minutes, the machine evaluates the pattern and compares it to a world database, figuring out counterfeit medicines and cross-matching circumstances to hint their origins.
This streamlined course of makes Catcher notably efficient. By combining exact chemical profiling, real-time database integration, and case cross-matching, it allows legislation enforcement to shortly uncover and join associated circumstances, an important benefit within the battle towards counterfeit medication.
Are you able to elaborate on how your software program and international database contribute to the battle towards counterfeit medication and the monitoring of harmful substances?
Each pattern analyzed by Catcher is robotically uploaded, making a centralized hub of chemical profiles that allows real-time knowledge entry and comparability. The database goes past figuring out counterfeit medication—it cross-matches chemical fingerprints, linking circumstances to assist legislation enforcement uncover patterns, hint sources, and join shipments to producers.
Because the database grows, AI integration enhances sample recognition, detecting refined similarities between circumstances. This community impact strengthens over time, making evaluation quicker, smarter, and extra correct.
In regards to the EIT Jumpstarter Program
How did you first hear concerning the EIT Jumpstarter programme, and why did you resolve to use?
I first found the programme on LinkedIn and was instantly intrigued. On the time, we have been within the early levels of growing Frivolously, and the programme appeared like the proper match. Its give attention to supporting early-stage improvements and serving to startups refine their concepts aligned completely with our wants.
From the start, we thought globally fairly than limiting ourselves to Czech alternatives. Our aim was at all times to create an answer with worldwide affect, so the programme’s pan-European scope and cross-border innovation help resonated with us. It offered a possibility not simply to validate our concept but additionally to put the groundwork for international scaling.
Being the winner of the EIT Jumpstarter Grand Finale is a exceptional milestone. How did the programme help you in refining your expertise and enterprise mannequin?
Successful was a significant milestone for us, giving us a deeper understanding of the best way to align our expertise with market wants and investor expectations. The programme helped us sharpen our worth proposition, enhance communication with stakeholders, and develop a transparent go-to-market technique. It additionally guided us in figuring out essentially the most promising markets and refining our commercialisation method.
The networking alternatives have been invaluable. Connecting with mentors and friends throughout Europe offered insights into scaling deep-tech improvements, navigating laws, and forming partnerships. It additionally pushed us to suppose critically about scalability, international affect, and long-term sustainability.
Successful the “Most Excellent Alumni Award” highlighted how far we’ve come. It strengthened our dedication to attaining our objectives and making an actual affect whereas strengthening our sense of accountability as a part of the EIT group.
Have been there any particular insights, mentorship, or connections gained throughout the EIT Jumpstarter programme that have been instrumental to your progress?
Oh sure! Positively. The community we constructed by way of the EIT Jumpstarter programme was invaluable. I’d particularly prefer to acknowledge the unimaginable help and inspiration from Piotr Boulange, Marta Kaczmarek, Maks Stempniewicz, and the numerous founders we met alongside the way in which. The mentorship and connections went past skilled steering—they helped us see new potentialities, refine our method, and keep motivated throughout challenges.
What stood out essentially the most was the sense of group. We didn’t simply construct skilled relationships; we fashioned sturdy friendships that grew to become a supply of fixed help. Having individuals who actually perceive your journey, have fun your wins, and encourage you thru setbacks makes all of the distinction. The EIT Jumpstarter expertise wasn’t nearly enterprise—it grew to become a cornerstone for each our skilled and private progress.
Challenges and Obstacles
What have been a few of the largest technical or logistical challenges you confronted in growing Catcher and Fenty?
There have been many, however one of many largest technical challenges was miniaturizing the patented “UV-Fingerprint” expertise into a conveyable, field-ready machine with out compromising accuracy or efficiency. Delivering laboratory-quality ends in below 10 minutes required intensive analysis, prototyping, and testing. Additionally Creating the Fenty cartridges. We would have liked to create single-use cartridges that standardized pattern preparation, making the machine simple to make use of for non-experts, whereas holding prices manageable.
As a deep-tech firm, improvement got here with inherently excessive prices. Translating a university-developed expertise right into a commercially viable product requires vital funding in expertise switch, licensing, and mental property safety. Scaling such a sophisticated expertise additionally meant constructing specialised experience and infrastructure to make sure reliability in real-world situations.
How did you guarantee your machine meets the wants of police models and different stakeholders throughout its improvement?
We labored carefully with stakeholders all through the event course of, collaborating with police models, forensic specialists, and legislation enforcement businesses just like the DEA, Interpol, and the Sheriff’s Workplace of Huntsville, Alabama. Their suggestions helped us tailor Catcher to their particular wants.
Portability, ease of use, and velocity have been prime priorities to make sure the machine might operate successfully within the subject. By involving stakeholders in real-world testing and refining prototypes based mostly on their enter, we made positive that Catcher and Fenty cartridges have been user-friendly, extremely correct, and able to delivering on-the-spot outcomes. Moreover, our software program’s means to cross-match circumstances and analyze patterns in a world database was designed in response to legislation enforcement’s want for higher case connectivity.
Our partnerships with the Czech police and worldwide businesses proceed to offer precious insights, guaranteeing our answer stays aligned with the challenges of combating counterfeit medication and successfully supporting legislation enforcement efforts.
Future Prospects and Imaginative and prescient
What are the following steps for Frivolously? Are there plans to broaden its purposes past counterfeit medication detection?
Our speedy focus is on finalizing the event of Catcher and Fenty cartridges, scaling manufacturing, and increasing into key markets such because the U.S., Europe, and the Center East. We plan to conduct large-scale testing with legislation enforcement businesses, together with the DEA, Interpol, and the Sheriff’s Workplace in Huntsville, Alabama, to refine and validate our answer in real-world situations.
Past counterfeit medication detection, we goal to broaden our expertise into different sectors. In the long term, we additionally plan to develop miniaturized variations of our machine and discover partnerships in industries like agriculture, meals security, and environmental monitoring. This diversification aligns with our mission to make the world a safer, more healthy, and extra sustainable place whereas leveraging the complete potential of our expertise.
How do you intend to scale your answer and make it accessible to extra police models and different related stakeholders globally?
By specializing in manufacturing, partnerships, and strategic international growth. We’re optimizing the manufacturing course of for Catcher and Fenty cartridges to make sure constant high quality and affordability, permitting us to satisfy the rising demand from police models and different stakeholders worldwide.
Our major goal markets embrace the U.S., Europe, and the Center East, the place we’re adapting our method to suit every area’s regulatory panorama, finances constraints, and enforcement priorities. To make sure accessibility, we’re additionally contemplating versatile fee fashions, resembling subscription-based pricing, to accommodate departments with restricted budgets.
Our international database and AI-driven software program are key to scaling. As extra knowledge is collected, the community impact strengthens, enhancing the system’s means to determine counterfeit medication and monitor provide chains extra successfully, making it an much more precious device for legislation enforcement worldwide.
Trying 5 years forward, what’s your imaginative and prescient for Frivolously and the broader affect you hope to attain with Catcher and its associated applied sciences?
In 5 years, we goal for Frivolously to be a world chief in counterfeit detection, with Catcher broadly adopted by legislation enforcement, border management, and forensic groups. We plan to broaden its purposes past counterfeit medication detection to areas like border safety, airport screening, water high quality testing, and environmental monitoring.
Our aim is to equip authorities with quick, dependable substance detection instruments to forestall harmful substances like fentanyl from coming into communities. A key precedence is strengthening collaborations with worldwide businesses and increasing our international database, making it a robust device for monitoring illicit drug networks.
We additionally see potential in partnering with authorities businesses like DOGE within the U.S., aligning our expertise with public security initiatives. As we scale, we goal to set a brand new trade commonplace in speedy, moveable detection, guaranteeing a safer and safer future.
