For the estimated one in ten women with endometriosis, the path to diagnosis is often a protracted and invasive ordeal, stretching an average of seven to ten years. That timeline, built on a standard of care that frequently requires diagnostic surgery, is the core problem a small Austrian startup named Diamens is trying to rewrite with a non-invasive test that uses menstrual blood [Future FemHealth, May 2024]. Founded in 2022, the company is developing what it calls the world's first at-home diagnostic kit for the condition, a claim that has attracted a six-figure pre-seed round from local investors to fund the necessary clinical validation [Future FemHealth, May 2024] [InfoRcapital, 2024]. It is a bet on a fundamental shift in gynecological diagnostics, moving from a specialist-driven, surgical procedure to a patient-initiated, at-home collection model.
The diagnostic wedge
The company's core proposition is deceptively simple: replace the need for a diagnostic laparoscopy with a mailed-in sample of menstrual blood. The current gold standard for confirming endometriosis is a surgical procedure, which carries inherent risks, costs, and access barriers. Diamens aims to offer an accessible, cost-effective, and user-friendly alternative that could serve as a first-line screening tool [Dealigence, 2024]. By allowing women to collect a sample at home and send it to a lab, the test seeks to drastically lower the barrier to an initial, non-invasive investigation. A positive result would then guide a patient and her clinician toward more targeted care, potentially speeding up the journey to treatment. The company's public materials position it as providing not just a test result, but tailored medical information to support clinical decision-making [Dealigence, 2024].
A clinical and commercial team
Diamens was founded by a team of scientists and clinicians, a structure that reflects the dual challenges of developing a novel diagnostic: rigorous science and practical clinical application. Marlene Rezk-Füreder serves as CEO, with Eva Scharnagl as CTO and Clara Ganhör as COO [brutkasten, 2024]. The scientific leadership includes Angelika Lackner as Chief Scientific Officer [Angelika Lackner - Founder & CSO Diamens, retrieved 2026]. Critically, the founding team includes Prof. Peter Oppelt, who acts as Chief Medical Officer, bringing direct specialist experience in endometriosis to guide the product's clinical development and regulatory strategy [Future FemHealth, May 2024] [brutkasten, 2024]. This blend of operational, technical, and clinical leadership is a common, and often necessary, architecture for early-stage diagnostic companies navigating the path from research to regulated product.
| Role | Name | Background |
|---|---|---|
| CEO | Marlene Rezk-Füreder | Co-Founder, operational leadership [Michael Strudler - Wendy Windenergy |
| CTO | Eva Scharnagl | Co-Founder, technical development [Eva Scharnagl - Co-Founder - Diamens |
| COO | Clara Ganhör | Co-Founder, operations [Clara Ganhör - Co-Founder - Diamens, retrieved 2026] |
| CSO | Angelika Lackner | Co-Founder, scientific lead [Angelika Lackner - Founder & CSO Diamens, retrieved 2026] |
| CMO | Prof. Peter Oppelt | Co-Founder, endometriosis specialist and clinical lead [Future FemHealth, May 2024] [brutkasten, 2024] |
The funding and regulatory runway
In 2024, Diamens closed a pre-seed funding round reported at $650,000, led by the Austrian venture firm eQventure [Future FemHealth, May 2024] [brutkasten, 2024]. The round also included participation from VP Venture Partners, FS Life Science Investment, and VGW Beteiligungs GmbH [InfoRcapital, 2024]. This capital is earmarked for a clear and costly milestone: advancing the test through clinical validation studies required for regulatory certification in Europe, specifically a CE mark [InfoRcapital, 2024]. The company is also a participant in the Health Hub Vienna accelerator, which provides additional network and support within the European healthtech ecosystem. For a pre-commercial diagnostic company, this early funding is less about scaling sales and more about funding the essential work that turns a promising concept into a legally marketable medical device.
Pre-seed Round (2024) | 0.65 | M USD
The competitive and clinical landscape
Diamens is not operating in a vacuum. Other companies are exploring non-invasive diagnostics for endometriosis, including U.S.-based Dot Labs, which is developing a blood test, and Hera Biotech, which is working on a proprietary diagnostic procedure. The competitive field underscores the significant, unmet market need but also highlights the technical and commercial hurdles. The primary risks for Diamens are not unique to the company but are inherent to the category.
- Clinical validation. The single greatest hurdle is proving the test's analytical and clinical performance,its sensitivity, specificity, and predictive value,in peer-reviewed studies. A diagnostic is only as good as its data, and that data must withstand regulatory and medical scrutiny.
- Regulatory pathway. Securing a CE mark, and eventually other regional approvals, is a complex, time-consuming process. Any missteps or delays in the clinical program could extend the timeline to market and exhaust finite capital.
- Commercial adoption. Even with regulatory approval, convincing healthcare systems to reimburse for the test and gynecologists to integrate it into diagnostic pathways represents a separate commercial challenge. It requires demonstrating not just accuracy, but also cost-effectiveness and improved patient outcomes.
The company's most plausible answer to these risks lies in its foundational team, which blends scientific and clinical expertise, and its focused use of capital to address the validation and regulatory steps first.
The next twelve months
The immediate roadmap for Diamens is defined by the steps between a prototype and a regulated product. The next year will be about executing the clinical validation studies that its pre-seed funding was raised to support. Success will be measured in data points and regulatory filings, not customer count. A key milestone to watch will be the publication of initial clinical data, which would serve as the first external validation of the test's feasibility and performance. Following that, the submission for a CE mark would be the next major gate. The company may also seek additional funding, likely a seed round, to support the later stages of regulatory work and early commercial planning if the clinical data is promising.
For the millions of women living with undiagnosed endometriosis, the standard of care today is a frustrating cycle of dismissed symptoms, ineffective treatments, and, ultimately, an invasive surgical procedure for confirmation. It is a disease state defined by delay and diagnostic ambiguity. Diamens is betting that a shift in the sample,from tissue extracted in an operating room to blood collected at home,can rewrite that clinical narrative. The ambition is humane, even if the path to get there is paved with clinical trials and regulatory paperwork. The company's progress will be a signal of whether the often-overlooked field of women's health diagnostics is ready for a more accessible, patient-centric model.
Sources
- [Future FemHealth, May 2024] Diamens raises six-figure pre-seed round to develop menstrual blood test for endometriosis | https://www.futurefemhealth.com/p/diamens-raises-six-figure-pre-seed
- [InfoRcapital, 2024] Austrian startup Diamens has successfully closed a new funding round | https://www.genomeweb.com/molecular-diagnostics/austrian-startup-diamens-closes-six-figure-financing-round-develop-menstrual
- [Dealigence, 2024] Diamens company profile | https://www.dealigence.com/company/diamens
- [brutkasten, 2024] Diamens company mention | https://brutkasten.com/biooekonomie-startup-diamens-erhaelt-sechsstellige-vor-seed-finanzierung
- [Angelika Lackner - Founder & CSO Diamens, retrieved 2026] LinkedIn profile | https://at.linkedin.com/in/angelika-lackner-diamens
- [Eva Scharnagl - Co-Founder - Diamens | LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] LinkedIn profile | https://www.linkedin.com/in/eva-scharnagl-815848266/
- [Clara Ganhör - Co-Founder - Diamens, retrieved 2026] LinkedIn profile | https://at.linkedin.com/in/clara-ganh%C3%B6r-24747b1a6
- [Michael Strudler - Wendy Windenergy | LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] LinkedIn post referencing Diamens | https://www.linkedin.com/in/michael-strudler-051a681/
- [Florian Haas - EY | LinkedIn, retrieved 2026] LinkedIn post referencing Diamens | https://www.linkedin.com/in/florian-haas-538449117/