Over the last nine months, Watertown startup Aldatu Biosciences has helped institutions run Covid-19 tests in neighboring communities, including Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center’s Boston campus, as well as far away, like in Botswana. It’s not what the startup set out to accomplish in 2020. But heading into the new year, Aldatu is leaning into the change, opening a new diagnostic business and doubling its staff.
Aldatu received MLSC funding through the Center’s Massachusetts Ramp-Up Program (MassRamp) program. MassRamp provided supplemental grant funding, on a competitive basis, to companies awarded Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Phase I grants or contracts from federal agencies. MassRamp aimed to bridge the funding gaps associated with the long life sciences R&D cycle, and the high cost of translating research into commercially viable products.