UCD firm SiriusXT secures €3m EU funding

A UCD spinout company has secured €3m in EU funding to develop its unique microscope technology which allows scientists to better understand the impact of drugs and disease on the human body.

SiriusXT is a startup founded in 2015 by Kenneth Fahy, Fergal O’Reilly, and Paul Sheridan after a decade of research.

It has received the multi-million funding boost as part of the EU’s research and innovation programme Horizon 2020.

The company’s founders spent 10 years developing the technology that underpins the novel soft X-ray tomography microscope they hope to bring from prototype to production with the help of the EU money.

“Our main target market are the thousands of worldwide research laboratories who are focused on disease research and drug discovery.

"Our soft X-ray tomography microscopes have a similar engineering complexity and price tag to an electron microscope, and our goal is to make them as ubiquitous as electron microscopes in our target market,” said SiriusXT chief executive Tony McEnroe.

The companys microscope is the first of its kind and allows researchers to illuminate whole single cells or tissue samples and produce 3D images which offer a better understanding of the impact of drugs and disease on specific cells.

The company is a client company of the NovaUCD business incubator.

“We plan to triple our current staff numbers over the coming years, both to bolster our complement of design engineers and physicists, as well as grow and support commercial activities,” Mr McEnroe said.