June 9, 2020

Pathotrak, a startup focused on developing novel food safety tests, recently closed a $1.2M seed round that included investments from UM Ventures’ Maryland Momentum Fund, the University of Maryland’s (UMD) Dingman Center Angels program and a global life science company with a large food safety division. The seed round, in addition to a recently awarded NSF-SBIR Phase 1 grant, will enable Pathotrak to progress its lead product toward commercialization.

Securing startup funding of any kind during the COVID-19 pandemic has its challenges, but the excitement building around Pathotrak’s novel, rapid test for Salmonella, and E. coli in food secured its backers regardless.

Founded and led by former National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST) Guest Researcher and UMD Fischell School of Bioengineering Research Assistant Professor Dr. Javier Atencia, the company’s Next Generation Enrichment sample-prep kit has the potential to disrupt the consumer food safety and the food industry.

Read the full story from BioBuzz.