About Us

At Rivercyte, we combine years of experience in deformability cytometry, hardware development, programming knowledge, and machine learning to establish the next standard for rapid physical phenotyping of cells.

Our core technology is high-throughput imaging cytometry combined with a microfluidic design to probe flow-induced forces on a single-cell level.

Rivercyte GmbH was founded in 2022 as a spin-off from the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light.

Meet the founding team

Felix Dirla

Felix Dirla

  • CEO

  • 25 years of professional experience (product development, production management, marketing & sales, quality management, regulatory affairs, HR, finance)

  • 18 years of entrepreneurship and executive management in IVD

Shada Hofemeier Abuhattum

Dr. Shada Hofemeier Abuhattum

  • 10 years experience in cell mechanics, data analysis and mathematical modelling

  • 6 years experience in product development

  • 3 years experience in IP analysis, patent editing and drafting

  • PhD Physics, FAU Erlangen-Nürnberg

Martin Kräter

Dr. Martin Kräter

  • Coordinator of clinical projects at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light

  • 10 years of research experience in biological and biochemical cell analysis

  • PhD Hematology, University Hospital Dresden

Markéta Kubánková

Dr. Markéta Icha Kubánková

  • Leader of Medical Valley Award project at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light

  • 10 years of experience in cell biophysics, data analysis and AI

  • PhD Chemical Physics, Imperial College London

Salvatore Girardo

Dr. Salvatore Girardo

  • Head of Lab-on-a-Chip technology platform at Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light

  • 15 years of experience in microfluidics

  • PhD Nanoscience, University of Salento, Italy

Jochen Guck

Prof. Jochen Guck

  • Director of the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light

  • 25 years of research experience in biophysical cell analysis

  • PhD Physics, University of Texas, Austin

Paul Müller

Dr. Paul Müller

  • Senior data analyst at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Light

  • 10 years hands-on experience in software development

  • Development and maintenance of core libraries, end-user programs and data repositories

  • PhD Physics, TU Dresden