Monday 21st September 2026, 4:44pm
Roslin Innovation Centre welcomes Kahu SiliconBio (Kahu) as a new Member company, joining our innovation ecosystem at time of rapid growth and international success for the company.
Kahu is a pioneering biotechnology company, originating from the University of Edinburgh’s Centre for Engineering Biology, founded in 2025 by Dr. James Flewellen and Professor Teuta Pilizota.
The company bridges the gap between engineered biology and electronics, creating a fundamentally new way to measure trace chemicals in liquids by using life as a sensor.
Kahu has developed a proprietary bioelectronic sensor, which incorporates living molecular machinery as an integral part of a silicon chip. Bioengineering techniques are used to build sensors for a wide range of small molecule targets, and the silicon chip ensures compatibility with any semiconductor-based system.
The result is a tiny, chip-based sensor that digitises liquid chemical information through translating a real-time biological response to a target chemical of interest into immediate electronic data.
While this modular platform can track molecules for environmental monitoring, agriculture, aquaculture and advanced manufacturing, the platform has expanded into healthcare to transform women’s health by developing a continuous hormone monitoring device.
Unlike standard single-snapshot blood tests, this device tracks hormone levels throughout the day. It maps how they fluctuate in response to sleep, stress, diet, and the menstrual cycle.
This real-time feedback aims to unlock major breakthroughs in diagnosing and treating underserved gynaecological disorders, such as endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).
Photo: Concept image of Kahu prototype (2026)
“By joining Roslin Innovation Centre as a Member, Kahu can benefit from our supportive innovation ecosystem.
“The Easter Bush Campus provides the ideal environment for the company to collaborate, innovate, and accelerate its next phase of growth - with the ability to utilise and benefit from the sustainable agriculture, engineering biology, aquaculture and One Health expertise on the Campus.
“We look forward to supporting Kahu’s journey as they develop technology that could change millions of lives.”
Val Hughes-White, Director of Roslin Innovation CentreKahu was recently selected for the prestigious ‘Continuous Hormone Monitoring Challenge’, a European initiative hosted by the German Federal Agency for Disruptive Innovation (SPRIN-D).
As part of this selection, the company secured a £1.2 million non-dilutive funding package. The capital will be used to scale up its technical team, build its next-generation prototype, and launch clinical partnerships.
This achievement builds upon early innovation support and mentoring, including that received from Edinburgh Innovations, Innovate UK ICURe, Scottish Enterprise, Silicon Catalyst UK and the Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Centre (IBioIC).
“I'm grateful to all those who have supported and believed in us on our journey from the University of Edinburgh, to discovering the niche where we can make the biggest impact.
“After securing several smaller grants earlier in the year, joining the SPRIN-D Challenge is yet more validation of our innovative bioelectronics technology, where we use living molecular machinery as an integral part of semiconductor chip design for molecular diagnostics.
“We are excited about contributing to solving a truly pressing global problem and we look forward to continuing our entrepreneurial journey, and being part of the wider innovation community at Roslin Innovation Centre.”
Dr. James Flewellen, Co-Founder and CEO, Kahu SiliconBioKahu SiliconBio (Kahu) welcome enquiries from investors and potential partners. Please get in touch.
Roslin Innovation Centre
The University of Edinburgh
Easter Bush Campus
Midlothian EH25 9RG
