UV testing start-up Paraytec raises £170,000
Funding / Laboratory equipment
York, UK, 18 August 2005
Paraytec Ltd., a spin-out from the chemistry department of the University of York, said it raised £170,000 to help develop its first products. Investors were the government-backed Viking Fund and a related business-angel network, the Viking Club.
The company is developing a new set of instruments that it hopes will win a share of the $3 billion market for molecular spectroscopy. The devices employ a variation of ultraviolet absorbance detection - beaming UV rays at a chemical or biological sample, and then measuring the way the sample absorbs the light to identify it. The Paraytec technology uses a capillary the width of a human hair to hold the samples being tested - meaning the sample size can be one-thousandth the size normally required. The company also claims its testing system is faster and more accurate than others.
The company was formed in January 2005, and aims to have its first products on the market in mid-2006. Its patents are based on work by analytical scientists Prof. David Goodall and Dr. Ed Bergström of the University of York Department of Chemistry, plus University of Sheffield Prof. Nigel Allinson and independent designer Dr. Kevin Moon. Prof. Goodall is Paraytec's technical director.
Company Databank
Paraytec Ltd.
Where: York, UK, http://mi3.shef.ac.uk/paraytec/index.html
Field: Molecular spectroscopy - a new range of ultraviolet absorbance detectors for lab analysis
Stage: In development, targeting product launch mid-2006
Vitals: Founded January 2005; spin-out from University of York chemistry department
Science base: Research with analytical scientists Prof. David Goodall and Dr. Ed Bergström of the University of York; University of Sheffield Prof. Nigel Allinson and independent designer Dr. Kevin Moon.
Investors include: Viking Fund, Viking Club angels
Contact: david.goodall@paraytec.com
