En Carta Diagnostics Raises $5.4M for At-Home Lyme and STI Tests

Jan de Vries · 2026-07-10

En Carta Diagnostics, a Paris-based startup building a new generation of at-home molecular tests, just hit a major milestone. The company announced the first closing of $5.4 million (€5 million) in financing. This round includes $3.2 million in equity led by Blue Forest Ventures, with participation from Ring Capital and existing investors like CentraleSupelec Venture and 50 Partners Health. Another $2.2 million came from non-dilutive funding through Bpifrance and other partners. Back in May 2024, they'd already secured $1.6 million in pre-seed funding. ### What This Means for At-Home Testing "This first closing brings us closer to our mission of transforming access to testing," said Guillaume Horreard, co-founder and CEO. "By enabling patients to perform reliable molecular tests wherever they are, we can support earlier diagnosis, improve patient outcomes, and help relieve pressure on healthcare systems." The idea is simple: bring lab-grade accuracy to your living room. Founded in 2022 by Horreard and Margot Karlikow, En Carta is developing home diagnostics that combine the precision of a PCR test with the ease of a rapid test. Their platform is designed to work without any lab infrastructure, making it truly portable. It's a big leap from the current standard, where you usually need a clinic visit and a few days wait for results. ### Tackling Lyme Disease Head-On Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne illness in the Northern Hemisphere, with about 1.2 million cases each year. It's caused by Borrelia bacteria, spread through tick bites. And it's getting worse: incidence is rising at 22.5% per year, according to the CDC. En Carta's first product targets early Lyme detection, delivering a result in just 30 minutes at home. Their technology uses aptamers—molecules that bind with high precision to specific targets. This "signature" can be programmed to detect genetic, pathogenic, or even veterinary indicators, opening up tons of applications. The company is starting with Lyme disease, then expanding into STI screening. ### Key Milestones and Clinical Progress - **First-in-human achieved:** En Carta has already tested its flagship Lyme product in humans. - **Two clinical trials underway:** One in Boston, USA, and another in Bialystok, Poland. - **FDA Breakthrough Device Designation:** Received in January 2026, which gives them an accelerated path to the U.S. market. - **Major commercial partnership:** A $14 million (€13 million) deal with AAZ, a French self-test specialist, to co-develop and market rapid molecular tests for chlamydia and gonorrhea in Europe. This includes committed volumes of several million units over five years. "From FDA Breakthrough Designation to a $14 million commercial partnership, and now $5.4 million in financing, En Carta is delivering," Horreard added. "Our next milestone is getting our two products—a rapid molecular diagnostic for Borrelia and an STI screening test—into the hands of patients and clinicians across Europe and the US." ### What's Next With this capital, En Carta plans to push forward regulatory certification for both European and U.S. markets. The FDA designation and the AAZ partnership give them a solid foundation. They're aiming to make high-quality diagnostics as common as a pregnancy test, but for serious infections like Lyme and STIs. If they pull it off, it could change how we think about testing forever.