What HeartBeat.bio does

HeartBeat.bio AG is a Vienna-based TechBio company founded in 2021 as a spin-off of the Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, developing self-organizing iPSC-derived cardiac organoids called "Cardioids" for cardiac drug discovery. The Cardioid platform guides induced pluripotent stem cells to form beating, hollow, spherical chamber structures that recapitulate human heart development and physiology, with extensions into fused multi-chamber constructs that model atrial and ventricular chambers with electrical coupling. The company integrates this biological platform with 384-well automation, an AI-driven quality control layer, and a comprehensive assay suite covering electrophysiology, contraction analysis, transcriptomics, histology, and toxicity readouts, achieving reported production of up to 50,000 Cardioids per month at failure rates below 3%.

Name

HeartBeat.bio

Legal name

HeartBeat.bio AG

Website

https://heartbeat.bio

Company type

Private

Founded year

2021

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

HeartBeat.bio is a Vienna-based TechBio company that combines AI-driven analytics with proprietary iPSC-derived cardiac organoids (Cardioids) to deliver high-throughput cardiac drug discovery and cardiotoxicity screening services to pharmaceutical and biotech clients.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Vienna

HQ country

Austria

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Contract Research Services: HeartBeat.bio provides drug discovery services to pharmaceutical and biotech companies using its Cardioid platform. Services include phenotypic screening, target discovery, hit identification, lead optimization, and preclinical profiling for cardiac drug development programs.
2. Platform Licensing and Co-development: The company enters co-development partnerships with pharma companies (e.g., Boehringer Ingelheim) and technology partners (e.g., Molecular Devices) for platform commercialization and therapeutic development programs.
3. Internal Drug Discovery Pipeline: HeartBeat.bio is building its own therapeutic pipeline targeting cardiomyopathies and myocardial fibrosis, with plans to advance programs toward clinical development either independently or through third-party co-development partnerships.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

HeartBeat.bio provides cardiac drug discovery services and a proprietary Cardioid Drug Discovery Platform built on iPSC-derived, self-organizing cardiac organoids (Cardioids) that mimic human heart chamber physiology. The company delivers phenotypic screening, target validation, cardiotoxicity testing, hit identification, lead optimization, and preclinical profiling to pharmaceutical and biotech partners, integrated with automated 384-well production and AI-driven analytics. It also pursues an internal pipeline for cardiomyopathies and myocardial fibrosis through co-development and licensing partnerships.

Product overview

HeartBeat.bio offers a unified Cardioid Drug Discovery Platform centered on its proprietary Cardioid technology—self-organizing, iPSC-derived cardiac organoids that form beating, hollow, spherical chambers mimicking human heart development and physiology. The platform integrates specialized Cardioid Assays Suite (functional, molecular, structural, and toxicity assays) with advanced automation and AI-driven analytics for high-throughput screening. HeartBeat.bio provides contract research services including Cardioid-Based Cardiotoxicity Screening, Genetic Phenotypic Cardiomyopathy Screening, and Cardioid Compound Screening, while building its own therapeutic pipeline for heart failure.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Cardioid Drug Discovery Platform A unified TechBio platform that combines iPSC-derived self-organizing cardiac organoids (Cardioids), automated 384-well production, and AI-driven analytics to deliver scalable, human-centric cardiac drug discovery for pharmaceutical and biotech partners.
• Cardioid Assays Suite A suite of functional (electrophysiology, contraction analysis, fibrosis), molecular (transcriptomics), structural (histology, 3D reconstruction, AAV/gene therapy optimization), and toxicity (viability, biomarker release) assays that characterize cardiac disease phenotypes on Cardioids.
• Cardioid Disease Models Proprietary Cardioid disease models covering genetic cardiomyopathies (HCM, DCM, ACM), drug-induced cardiomyopathy and cardiotoxicity (Cardio-Oncology), and myocardial fibrosis and remodeling, tailored for disease-relevant drug testing.
• Cardioid-Based Cardiotoxicity Screening Contract research service providing comparative cardiotoxicity screening using 3D Cardioids versus conventional 2D iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes, with multiparametric scoring to improve predictive accuracy of compound-induced cardiac liability for pharma and biotech partners.
• Genetic Phenotypic Cardiomyopathy Screening CRISPR/Cas9-based phenotypic knockout screening service covering over 100 pathogenic cardiomyopathy genes, using structural and functional Cardioid readouts to model HCM, DCM, and ACM disease phenotypes for therapeutic target discovery.
• Cardioid Compound Screening High-throughput phenotypic compound screening service covering doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity modeling with cardioprotection strategies and drug-induced hypertrophic cardiomyopathy modeling for therapeutic intervention testing in cardiac drug discovery programs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3D Cardioids detected 39 additional cardiotoxic compounds that were missed by conventional 2D cardiomyocyte models in benchmarking studies (out of 130 compounds tested).
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability5 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Boehringer IngelheimcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 September 2025Expanded collaboration to develop gene therapy-based treatments for genetic cardiomyopathies. Combines Boehringer Ingelheim's gene therapy expertise with HeartBeat.bio's Cardioid Drug Discovery Platform. Addresses high unmet need in cardiovascular health with approximately one million people affected in major markets.
• biotx.aicoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 July 2025License and Technology Access Agreement to identify and validate novel therapeutic targets in heart failure. biotx.ai applies its Mendelian randomization platform to discover genetic targets; HeartBeat.bio validates targets using its Cardioid platform. HeartBeat.bio holds exclusive rights to initiate internal drug discovery programs or enter co-development partnerships based on validated targets.
• Institute of Molecular Biotechnology (IMBA)coreTechnology or Integration · 29 November 2023IMBA granted exclusive license of multi-chamber cardiac organoid technology to HeartBeat.bio. Technology originated from Sasha Mendjan's research group at IMBA. HeartBeat.bio was founded in 2021 based on technology from IMBA and is located at Vienna BioCenter.
• Boehringer IngelheimcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 October 2022Initial collaboration for investigation of human cardiac organoids (Cardioids) for high-throughput early safety assessment and drug discovery. Boehringer Ingelheim works with HeartBeat.bio scientists to advance the platform using reference compounds from their R&D programs. The collaboration aims to accelerate development of new therapy options for heart disease patients.
• Molecular DevicescoreTechnology or Integration · 12 September 2022Co-development agreement to automate and scale cardiac organoids for high-throughput screening. The partnership integrates HeartBeat.bio's Cardioid technology with Molecular Devices' CellXpress.ai Automated Cell Culture System and high-content imaging solutions. The commercialized offering enables researchers to reliably scale Cardioid production.
• Hubrecht InstituteminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerListed as a cooperation partner, likely related to academic collaboration on organoid research and cardiac biology.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Emulate: Emulate builds organ-on-chip platforms that recapitulate human organ physiology, including cardiac applications. Direct competitor in human-relevant in vitro models for preclinical drug development.
• CN Bio: CN Bio develops organ-on-chip and microphysiological systems including cardiac models for drug discovery and toxicology. Direct competitor offering alternative human-relevant cardiac in vitro models to pharma.
• InSphero: InSphero provides 3D microtissue and organoid models for drug discovery and safety, including cardiac applications. Direct peer in scalable 3D human biology for pharma R&D.
• FUJIFILM Cellular Dynamics: FUJIFILM CDI is a leading manufacturer of iPSC-derived cells, including cardiomyocytes used in cardiac safety and drug discovery. Directly comparable to HeartBeat.bio as a supplier of human-relevant cardiac cellular models to pharma R&D.
• Axol Bioscience (incl. Ncardia): Axol Bioscience (which acquired Ncardia) offers iPSC-derived cardiac cell products and disease modeling services for drug discovery and safety pharmacology. Direct competitor in human cardiac iPSC disease models and contract cardiac safety services.

Broad incumbents

• Evotec: Evotec is a global drug discovery CRO offering cardiac safety, iPSC-based screening, and end-to-end drug discovery partnerships. Comparable in providing cardiac-relevant discovery services to pharma, but operating at far greater scale and across many indications.
• Charles River Laboratories: Charles River is a large CRO offering cardiac safety assessment and preclinical drug development services to pharma. Comparable as a contract services provider for cardiac safety, but as part of a much broader portfolio.
• BioIVT: BioIVT supplies biological specimens and offers cardiac safety testing services to pharma and biotech. Comparable as a cardiac safety and human biology services provider, but with a broader biospecimen-driven portfolio.
• BICO (CELLINK): BICO Group provides bioconvergence tools including 3D cell culture, bioprinting, and lab automation used in organoid and cell-based assay workflows. Comparable as an enabling platform for advanced in vitro biology, though much broader than HeartBeat.bio's cardiac focus.

Emerging players

• bit.bio: bit.bio provides an iPSC reprogramming platform producing defined human cell types including cardiomyocytes at scale. Comparable as a TechBio platform player combining cell biology with engineering for pharma discovery.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/heartbeatbio

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles15 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about HeartBeat.bio