Swedish football stars back Hydro Diagnostics in $339K round for rapid water tests
What's the deal? Stockholm-based Hydro DiagnosticsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has raised US$411K (roughly $339,000) in an angel round backed by two Swedish national football team players, Carl Starfelt and Jesper Karlström. The startup also secured a US$120.9K loan from AlmiDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The money funds the commercial rollout of its rapid tests for bacteria in water.
What's the endgame? Hydro Diagnostics sells a test kit resembling a pregnancy test: a filter concentrates the water, and a cassette plus an AI-based mobile app return results within 30 minutes on bacteria such as legionella or E. coli. Traditional lab samples can take 10 to 14 days. The app also lets property owners track their entire portfolio.
Why now? The idea came toward the end of the pandemic, when co-founders Erik Wåhlin and Kevin Siu wondered if home Covid-19 testing could be adapted to detect bacteria in water. After three years of development, the company is moving to launch. "We have very high pressure from customers who keep pushing us," says Wåhlin, co-founder and chief executive officer.
Its primary targets are property companies, which carry growing responsibility for water quality under new EU directives. One early customer is CoorDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which manages 20 million square metres. "They're the ones responsible for the water being safe. And the only way to find out is to test," Wåhlin says.
By the numbers: Hydro Diagnostics reported net revenue of about US$53.7K in 2025, with a loss after financial items of US$133K. It aims to turn cash-flow positive next year on a budgeted net revenue of US$846.2K. Wåhlin believes its three-person team could reach US$1.21M "without growing with people."
The rollout starts in the Nordics, then targets the UK and Germany via distribution networks. Test cassettes are produced by a partner in Belgium, which also developed the technology. The business model relies on recurring kit purchases, with a longer-term goal of making cassettes recyclable.
The signal: At roughly $339,000, the round sits in the lower band of disclosed deals, consistent with an early angel raise. Celebrity backing and tightening EU water-quality rules give a small diagnostics startup an opening in a corner of testing it describes as short on innovation.
Read more: startupmafia.eu
Image credit: Dasapta Erwin Irawan
