For a patient with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) in the ICU, the ventilator is a lifeline that can also cause harm. Standard settings are a blunt instrument, a one-size-fits-all approach that risks further injuring fragile, inflamed lung tissue. The clinical puzzle has always been how to see inside that patient’s unique, failing lung mechanics in real time. A Munich-based team of computational engineers and scientists believes the answer lies not just in the CT scan, but in the physics-informed digital twin you can build from it.
Ebenbuild, founded in 2019, is developing software that converts patient CT scans and clinical data into high-fidelity, AI-enhanced digital replicas of the lungs [LinkedIn]. These are not simple 3D visualizations. They are simulation models that combine computational fluid dynamics and tissue mechanics to predict airflow, applied forces, and tissue expansion within the organ [mtec-sc.org]. The intended output is a set of personalized ventilation parameters, a recommendation for the ICU clinician on how to adjust the machine to minimize stress on that specific patient’s lungs [htgf.de]. It is a bet on precision in one of medicine’s most chaotic and high-stakes environments.
A dual-market wedge in respiratory care
The company’s strategy hinges on serving two distinct, but technically linked, customer bases with the same core technology. This dual-market approach provides a diversified path to revenue while de-risking the long regulatory journey for a clinical device.
- ICU decision support. The primary and most immediate application is in the intensive care unit for patients with ARDS. Here, the digital twin acts as a sophisticated clinical decision support tool, aiming to move ventilator management from population-based protocols to patient-specific optimization [Munich Startup, 2026].
- Pharmaceutical R&D. The second application is in preclinical drug development. Pharmaceutical companies can use cohorts of these virtual lungs to run in-silico trials, simulating how inhaled therapies for conditions like pulmonary fibrosis are transported and deposited throughout the respiratory tract [mtec-sc.org]. This use case, which operates in a less strictly regulated research environment, can generate revenue and validation data while the clinical product navigates regulatory pathways.
This wedge is notable. It allows Ebenbuild to engage with deep-pocketed life sciences partners today, building commercial relationships and refining its models, while pursuing the longer-term, higher-impact goal of changing bedside ICU practice.
Validation and the European backing
In digital health, especially for a tool making physiological predictions, peer-reviewed validation is the currency of credibility. Ebenbuild’s technology was recently validated in a study published in Nature Communications Medicine, where its digital twin accurately predicted inhaled drug deposition against gold-standard 3D SPECT/CT imaging data from a clinical trial [BioWorld, 2026] [Mirage News, 2026]. This kind of rigorous, imaging-based validation is a significant step, moving the work from academic simulation toward a clinically credible tool.
The company’s progress has attracted substantial non-dilutive funding from European public bodies, a common and strategic advantage for deep-tech biotechs in the region. Ebenbuild has secured a mix of seed funding and significant grants.
2022 Seed | 2.5 | M EUR
2025 EIC Grant | 2.3 | M EUR
BMBF Grant | 0.9 | M EUR
Beyond the €2.5 million seed round led by Bayern Kapital in 2022, the startup has won a €2.3 million grant from the European Innovation Council and up to €900,000 from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research [VC Magazin, 2026] [BioM, 2026]. This public backing, totaling over €5.7 million (approximately $6.2 million), signals a strong vote of confidence in the technology’s scientific merit and its alignment with European strategic health and technology priorities.
The academic engine behind the startup
The founding team reads like a roster from a university’s institute for computational mechanics, which is essentially what it is. The company was spun out directly from research at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) [tum.de]. This origin story provides a deep technical moat but also frames the commercial execution challenge ahead.
| Founder | Role | Key Background |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Kei Wieland Müller | CEO | Scientific background in computational modeling and AI for respiratory care. |
| Dr. Jonas Biehler | CTO | PhD in computational mechanics from TUM; studied at TUM and University of Canterbury. |
| Prof. Dr. Wolfgang A. Wall | Co-Founder | Full Professor and founding Director of the Institute for Computational Mechanics at TUM. |
| Karl-Robert Wichmann | VP Engineering | Background in software engineering and research. |
The presence of a sitting full professor (Wall) as a co-founder underscores the depth of the scientific underpinnings. The challenge for any academically-born biotech is bridging the gap from brilliant simulation to a software product that integrates seamlessly into the high-pressure, protocol-driven workflow of a modern ICU. The hiring of a VP of Engineering (Wichmann) and the CEO’s public engagement on the startup circuit suggest an active focus on building that bridge [exist.de, 2026].
Navigating the path to the bedside
The most credible risk for Ebenbuild is not scientific novelty but the arduous pathway of clinical adoption and regulatory clearance. The company’s long-term roadmap explicitly targets clinical-grade decision support systems, which will require regulatory approval as a medical device [PharmiWeb.com, 2026]. This process is lengthy, expensive, and demands robust clinical trials demonstrating not just predictive accuracy, but improved patient outcomes.
- The regulatory climb. Achieving FDA clearance or a CE Mark for a Class II medical device that advises on life-support treatment is a multi-year endeavor. The company’s current grant funding helps, but a significant venture round will likely be necessary to fund the required clinical studies.
- Integration friction. Even with regulatory approval, integrating a new software tool into the entrenched, fast-moving workflows of an ICU is a formidable sales and implementation challenge. It requires winning over clinicians, IT departments, and hospital procurement.
- Proving economic value. For hospital buyers, the software must demonstrate it saves costs (by reducing ICU length of stay or preventing complications) or improves reimbursable outcomes convincingly enough to justify its price.
The company’s plausible answer is its dual-market strategy. Revenue and validation from pharmaceutical R&D can extend the runway and refine the platform, reducing the risk that the clinical arm runs out of funding or momentum before crossing the regulatory finish line.
What standard care looks like today
For the roughly 200,000 patients diagnosed with ARDS in the United States each year, the standard of care for mechanical ventilation remains largely protocol-driven [American Thoracic Society]. Clinicians rely on a combination of arterial blood gas measurements, chest X-rays, and general guidelines for lung-protective ventilation, which aim to limit pressure and volume to prevent further injury. It is an art informed by science, but without a precise, patient-specific map of lung mechanics. Decisions are made on population-level evidence and real-time but indirect physiological signals. Ebenbuild’s ambition is to replace that generalized map with a personalized, dynamic blueprint, giving clinicians a simulated view of the forces at play inside their patient’s lungs before they turn a dial on the ventilator. The patient population is critically ill, their time is short, and the margin for error is vanishingly small. In that context, even a marginal improvement in precision could translate to lives saved.
The next twelve months
With its recent grant funding secured, Ebenbuild’s immediate focus will be on advancing its two product tracks. For the pharmaceutical segment, expect more announced partnerships with drug developers leveraging the validated in-silico trial capabilities. For the clinical track, the next milestones will be less about publication and more about progression: initiating the necessary clinical validation studies to support a regulatory filing, and likely engaging with early pilot ICU sites. Given the capital-intensive nature of the clinical pathway, another funding round,potentially a Series A,is a probable event within the next 12 to 18 months to fuel this transition from research project to regulated medical product.
Sources
- [LinkedIn] Ebenbuild Company Profile | https://www.linkedin.com/company/ebenbuild
- [mtec-sc.org] Ebenbuild Life Sciences Profile | https://mtec-sc.org/life-sciences/ebenbuild
- [htgf.de] High-Tech Gründerfonds Portfolio: Ebenbuild | https://www.htgf.de/en/portfolio/htgffamily/ebenbuild/
- [Munich Startup, 2026] Ebenbuild Startup Profile | https://www.munich-startup.de/en/startups/ebenbuild/
- [BioWorld, 2026] Ebenbuild Aims to Transform Lung Care with Digital Twin Tech | https://www.bioworld.com/articles/726762-ebenbuild-aims-to-transform-lung-care-with-digital-twin-tech
- [Mirage News, 2026] Digital Lung Twin Validated for Drug Deposition Prediction | https://www.miragenews.com/digital-lung-twin-validated-for-drug-1266784/
- [VC Magazin, 2026] Ebenbuild Funding Report | https://www.vc-magazin.de
- [BioM, 2026] BMBF Grant Announcement for Ebenbuild | https://www.bio-m.org
- [tum.de] Technical University of Munich Spin-off Report | https://www.tum.de
- [PharmiWeb.com, 2026] Ebenbuild Roadmap for Clinical Decision Support | https://www.pharmiweb.com
- [exist.de, 2026] Interview with Dr. Kei Wieland Müller | https://exist.de/en/
- [American Thoracic Society] ARDS Fact Sheet | https://www.thoracic.org/patients/patient-resources/resources/ards.pdf