Capitainer
A Swedish MedTech company
Company name
Capitainer AB
When was the company founded?
2016
Do you have any academic affiliations or collaborations?
Yes. Capitainer is involved in multiple academic and clinical collaborations through research projects and consortia. The company participates in EU-funded initiatives, including the IHI-funded COMFORT project, together with academic and industry partners across Europe.
Capitainer is also involved in the UTI-Diag project, which focuses on improving the diagnosis of urinary tract infections and addressing antimicrobial resistance. In addition, the company collaborates with Swedish universities such as Linnaeus University and Örebro University in projects funded by the Knowledge Foundation (KK-stiftelsen), where Capitainer contributes as an in-kind partner.
Describe your company
Capitainer AB is a Swedish MedTech company focused on enabling decentralized, patient-centric testing through self-sampling of blood, plasma and urine. Founded in 2016, the company develops technologies that simplify sample collection and logistics, making diagnostics more accessible and scalable. Capitainer’s vision is to improve access to patient-near testing while reducing complexity and costs for healthcare systems. Headquartered in Sweden, the company operates internationally, with a growing presence in the U.S. market.
Describe your product/solution
Capitainer develops microfluidic sampling devices for self-collection of blood, plasma and urine. The technology enables exact volumetric sampling in easy-to-use devices, where samples are dried directly after collection. This allows transport by standard mail without the need for cold-chain logistics.
The solution is designed to integrate with existing laboratory workflows and enables decentralized, patient-near testing without compromising sample quality. It supports scalable sample collection across multiple applications, improving accessibility for both patients and healthcare providers.
What problem are you addressing?
Limited access to patient-near testing remains a major challenge in healthcare. Many testing workflows rely on in-clinic sampling, creating barriers such as travel and time constraints. At the same time, traditional sample handling involves complex logistics, including cold-chain transport, increasing costs and limiting scalability.
Capitainer addresses this by enabling decentralized sampling with simplified logistics. This supports the vision of improving access to patient-near testing while reducing complexity and costs for healthcare systems.
What impact does your solution create?
By allowing samples to be sent via standard mail, the need for complex logistics such as cold-chain transport is reduced, lowering costs and simplifying workflows. The solution also saves time for patients by removing the need to travel to a clinic.
In one example from a U.S. logistics partner handling large volumes of home-sampling kits, total costs were reduced to around USD 25 per sample, compared to approximately USD 31–51 for traditional blood collection workflows.
What stage of commercialisation are you currently in?
Capitainer is in the commercial stage, with established sales and ongoing international expansion. The company’s products are available on the market and used across multiple applications, with a growing customer base in both Europe and the United States.
What are you currently seeking to take the next step?
Capitainer is currently seeking funding to support continued growth and international expansion. This includes scaling commercial activities, expanding partnerships, and further developing and implementing decentralized, patient-near testing solutions across key markets.
The company is also progressing ongoing performance studies according to IVDR, with several additional studies planned to support further validation and adoption of the technology.
What market potential do you see for your solution?
Capitainer is targeting a fast-growing billion-dollar market in the U.S. alone. The potential for the solution is significant, driven by the growing demand for decentralized, patient-near testing and more efficient healthcare delivery. There is strong global interest in solutions that reduce the need for in-clinic sampling and simplify logistics.
The technology is applicable across multiple areas, including clinical biomarkers, therapeutic drug monitoring, genomics, drug abuse and doping testing, as well as research and clinical studies. It is highly scalable and can be implemented across national healthcare systems and international markets, supporting both clinical use and large-scale screening programs.
