LOEWE Funding Approval: Cooperation Project of Startup Deep LS and the TU Darmstadt Receives 338,300 Euros in Funding
Huge success for the AI startup Deep LS Gmbh: On Friday, June 6, 2025, the Hessian Minister of Science Timon Gremmels officially handed over the grant agreement for the research project “KISWI – AI-supported structure-based drug development” to the Limburg-based startup. Together with the Technical University of Darmstadt (TU Darmstadt), Deep LS is developing new approaches to accelerate the development of highly specific drugs as part of LOEWE funding line 3. In spring 2025, the founding team was part of the highly selective batch of the RISING accelerator program of AI Startup Rising, the entrepreneurship program of hessian.AI. The award of LOEWE funding line 3 is another big success for the startup.
Science Minister Timon Gremmels explains: “The LOEWE funding for KISWI will specifically strengthen knowledge and technology transfer in Hessen and transfer research into application. The project impressively illustrates how close cooperation between business and science can lead to innovative solutions, such as this one for global health challenges, and at the same time ensure Hessen’s long-term competitiveness as a location for research and business. With our LOEWE funding line 3, we are supporting cooperation between universities and research institutions and companies, thereby strengthening Hessen as a top region for research, development and entrepreneurship.”
An Innovative Project with Social Relevance
The “GeneSys” software platform developed by Deep LS, which is based on generative artificial intelligence, is at the heart of the KISWI project. It supports researchers in designing novel molecules that are already precisely tailored virtually to specific target proteins. In the project, GeneSys is applied to the protein FKBP51 as an example – a promising protein for the treatment of diseases such as depression, obesity-related diabetes and neuropathic pain, but which has so far been difficult to access for drug development. The KISWI project runs from 01.07.2025 to 30.06.2027 and is funded with 338,300 euros for a total expenditure of 497,700 euros.
With the LOEWE program, the state government supports outstanding scientific collaborative projects at universities and research institutions in Hesse. The focus is on intensive networking between science, non-university research and industry. LOEWE funding line 3 strengthens cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises, universities and research institutions. The Hessian Ministry of Science and Research, Art and Culture has commissioned the state-owned business development agency HA Hessen Agentur GmbH to organize and manage the funding of LOEWE funding line 3 projects. It is also the point of contact for funding applications.
Folke Mühlhölzer, CEO of HA Hessen Agentur GmbH, explains: “LOEWE funding line 3 strengthens cooperation between small and medium-sized enterprises, universities and research institutions in Hessen. As experienced funding experts, we advise and support numerous projects and contribute to the successful implementation of pioneering technologies in Hessen. This funding project not only invests in a young, innovative company from Hessen, but also in the future of Hessen as a pharmaceutical location.”
Successful Knowledge Transfer: from Basic Research to Practice
An important impetus for KISWI came from the LOEWE focus TRABITA at the Technical University of Darmstadt, headed by Professor Felix Hausch. There, so-called transient binding pockets in disease-relevant proteins were researched, which offer new pharmacological approaches. A central model protein was FKBP51, which is associated with diseases such as depression, diabetes and chronic pain. As part of TRABITA, the transient binding pocket in FKBP51 was stabilized and an innovative test system for drug identification was developed. This preliminary work now forms the basis for the work in the current KISWI project, which is being transferred to application.
Deep LS and TU Darmstadt: Strong Partnership for Pioneering Medicine
In KISWI, Deep LS is cooperating with the Chemistry Working Group Structure-based Drug Research headed by Prof. Dr. Felix Hausch at the Technical University of Darmstadt. The partnership is highly complementary: Deep LS contributes its AI skills, while TU Darmstadt contributes its proven expertise in structural biology and target protein validation.
Felix Kamieth, Managing Director of Deep LS GmbH, explains: “With GeneSys, we want to show how AI not only accelerates research processes, but can also enable real medical breakthroughs – especially with difficult molecular targets. The funding from the state of Hesse gives us the necessary tailwind to realize this vision together with TU Darmstadt.
Find out more about Deep LS in our startup profile.
Find out more about LOEWE funding line 3:
http://www.innovationsfoerderung-hessen.de/loewe-foerderlinie-3
More info about the funding program LOEWE:
http://www.wissenschaft.hessen.de/forschen/landesprogramm-loewe
Photo: © Petra A. Killick
