DiaMonTech's EIC Accelerator Laser for Needle-Free Glucose Checks

Measuring blood sugar without drawing blood is one of the oldest unsolved promises in medical technology, and in February 2024 the US Food and Drug Administration warned people not to use the smartwatches and rings that claim to do it, saying it had authorised none of them. DiaMonTech, a Berlin company registered in 2015, is attempting it with a different tool: a mid-infrared laser that is absorbed by glucose in the skin of a fingertip, and a sensor that reads the resulting warming.

The European Innovation Council listed the company's project, NIGHT (Non-invasive Glucose Health Technology), among the 38 companies selected in the EIC Accelerator round announced on 15 June 2026, for blended finance. CORDIS records a grant agreement signed on 23 September 2026 with an EU contribution of €2,499,999, for a project running from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2028. The project is one month old; what can be checked is the starting point.

Heat, not light, through the skin

Most attempts at non-invasive glucose measurement shine near-infrared light into tissue, where the glucose signal is weak and buried under water and other molecules. DiaMonTech uses mid-infrared, where glucose absorbs at characteristic wavelengths. Its 2025 study describes the set-up: a tunable quantum cascade laser emitting between 8.3 and 10.5 micrometres, pulsed at about 10 milliwatts. The absorbed light warms the tissue slightly, and the company measures that photothermal effect, which its September 2025 release calls photothermal spectroscopy. A user places a finger on the sensor for about 10 to 15 seconds, the release says.

The difference from today's continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) is that nothing goes into the body. The NIGHT objective argues that CGMs are invasive, costly and reach only 2 to 4% of patients, and it targets people with type 2 diabetes who now prick their fingers. The objective also calls the D-Pocket "the first truly non-invasive glucose monitoring device", a company claim; it is not yet on the market.

What the 2025 study shows

In November 2025 Communications Medicine, a Springer Nature journal, published the company's clinical validation. The study was prospective, single centre and run by the Institute for Diabetes Technology in Ulm as contract research organisation. It enrolled 36 people (13 with type 1 diabetes, 17 with type 2, 6 without diabetes), 35 of whom completed it, over 105 sessions of about five hours with a standard breakfast. The second and third sessions were blinded.

With its best algorithm, the mean absolute relative difference (MARD) against finger-prick readings was 20.7% in the second session and 19.6% in the third. Between 97.5% and 98.6% of readings fell in zones A and B of the Consensus Error Grid, and one reading fell in zone D. The company's release of 9 February 2026 says the accuracy is comparable to commercially approved devices; the paper itself compares it with early FDA-cleared CGMs for adjunctive use.

The published result shows the method working on people under study conditions; it does not show how a handheld version will perform. A 2019 study the company reported to Apotheke Adhoc gave a mean error of 11% across 100 participants with a one-time blood calibration; the two studies used different designs and are not directly comparable.

A launch promised for 2020

DiaMonTech's first product, the tabletop DMT Base (later D-Base), received a CE mark in 2019 for use in professional settings such as diabetes centres, per the company. Its August 2019 release announced the certification; later company releases date it to March or April 2019. No sales figures for the D-Base have been published.

The consumer device was due soon after. In October 2019 Apotheke Adhoc reported a planned launch at the end of 2020, and RTTNews reported that a Frankfurt IPO of about €50 million would fund a D-Pocket launch "as early as 2020", with letters of intent for 110,000 units a year. The IPO was called off on 26 November 2019; the company cited insufficient oversubscription, as reported by the Börsen-Zeitung, which put the targeted volume at €57.5 to 68.3 million including the over-allotment.

The company filed an FDA pre-submission for the D-Base in September 2020 and received ISO 13485 certification for its quality system in April 2021, per its news page. No FDA clearance for any DiaMonTech device appears in that news list. Six years after the first launch date, the NIGHT objective says the company seeks the EIC grant and €7.5 million of equity "to finish development, achieve certification, and begin marketing".

Investor money first, EU grant second

The company announced a €12 million round on 16 September 2025 with Samsung Next, bringing its total to about €35 million; Bionity reported an €8 million follow-on led by the Companisto angel network, and Companisto says its investors put in about €8 million alongside a €1.5 million Samsung co-investment. CORDIS gives a consistent picture: about €25 million raised, plus about €10 million during the EIC application. Earlier backers include Samsung Ventures with a $5 million round in 2022, reported by Notebookcheck, and a 2023 round led by Moll Family GmbH whose size was not disclosed.

The register summary on North Data shows the share capital rising from €4,823,400 in November 2019 to €7,062,509 in June 2026, subscription offers in July 2025 and January 2026, and annual accounts for 2025 filed in October 2026; staff and results sit behind a paywall and were not reviewed. It shows no insolvency publication. No EIC Fund investment in DiaMonTech has been announced, and the EIC Fund's portfolio page did not load for checking on 4 November 2026.

What NIGHT promises, and what can be checked

1. Working non-invasive measurement on peopleShown on a prototypePeer-reviewed 2025 study on the tabletop D-Base 2.0, by company authors.
2. Finish the handheld D-PocketToo earlyProject started 1 October 2026; no D-Pocket accuracy data published.
3. CertificationToo earlyNo CE mark or FDA clearance for the D-Pocket announced.
4. Begin marketing by March 2028Too earlyDistributor letters of intent announced in 2019 and 2025; no sales reported.

The EU case made in the project is health rather than supply chains: it cites more than 589 million people with diabetes worldwide and argues that more frequent, painless measurement reduces microvascular complications, citing landmark diabetes trials. The policy trackers CORDIS assigns to NIGHT put it at 100% digital agenda and 40% artificial intelligence. The company is still active: it posted news in August 2026, signed the EIC agreement in September and filed its 2025 accounts in October.

DiaMonTech was not asked for comment. The reporting is based on publicly available sources, listed below.