稀缺猎奇网 稀缺猎奇网 Momentum Fund Invests $150,000 in pathOtrak
Company led by Former UMCP and National Institute of Standards and Technology Faculty Member Drastically Cuts Detection Time for Salmonella and E. coli in Food
Baltimore, MD. (May 18, 2020)芒鈧�&苍诲补蝉丑;&苍产蝉辫;The 稀缺猎奇网 (稀缺猎奇网) 稀缺猎奇网 Momentum Fund has invested $150,000 in College Park, Md.-based pathOtrak, a company that has developed a rapid food test for salmonella and E. coli in food.
The investment closes out pathOtrak’s $1.2 million seed round, along with a $200,000 investment from a global life sciences company with a food safety division and $310,000 from the Dingman Center Angels.
The Momentum Fund continues to invest in companies affiliated with the 稀缺猎奇网 despite the COVID-19 pandemic and encourages applications through the Fund website at .
pathOtrak offers a sample-prep kit called Next Generation Enrichment, which uses a new microfiltration technology to drastically expedite the detection of both salmonella and E. coli in food. pathOtrak’s technology reduces food testing time from 1-2 days to five hours. This enables producers to release product one day earlier, helping the food industry better balance shelf life, profit, and food safety.
About 5 million cases of bacterial food poisoning occur each year in the U.S., resulting in illness, death, and over $55 billion in combined financial losses. Time from farm to table is critical, as illustrated in instances such as the recent romaine lettuce and Chipotle E. coli outbreaks.
“pathOtrak’s mission is to eliminate food-safety risks and gaps in the food industry by delivering the right technologies at the right price, saving producers cost and testing labs time,” said pathOtrak Founder and Chief Executive Officer Javier Atencia, PhD. “Our technology aims to increase shelf life, reduce food waste, and, most importantly, save lives. We are excited to have the Momentum Fund close our seed round at a moment when we are about to send our first product for food-safety accreditation. We are ready and eager to disrupt the food industry by simplifying operations that still rely on lengthy food-safety tests.”
“Vendors of rapid food-safety detection include multi-billion dollar companies such as 3M, Neogen, Biomerieux, Bio-Rad and Hygiena,” said Claire Broido Johnson, Managing Director of the Momentum Fund. “As of now, all of them use a traditional enrichment pathogen detection process, the key step that pathOtrak disrupts. If pathOtrak’s technology can reduce full pathogen detection time, it would offer a key strategic and competitive advantage to a company employing the test.”
pathOtrak joined the incubator at the University of 稀缺猎奇网, College Park (UMCP) in 2018. The company is also a graduate of both the and NSF I-Corps programs.
After a successful eight-year tenure at UMCP, Dr. Atencia joined pathOtrak full-time to focus on bringing the company’s revolutionary technologies to market. While on faculty in the Fischell Department of Bioengineering at UMCP, Dr. Atencia led joint UMCP and National Institute for Standards and Technology projects. He invented pathOtrak's award-winning technology in 2015 at UMCP and has been awarded 17 other patents, four of which have been licensed, including one to Intel.
pathOtrak’s Head of Engineering Ethan Reggia is an expert in rapid prototyping and manufacturing and has worked on prototyping and mechatronics design projects for numerous agencies, including Northrop Grumman, Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The 稀缺猎奇网 稀缺猎奇网 Momentum Fund provides investment for promising technology ventures born out of 稀缺猎奇网’s 12 institutions. The Momentum Fund helps early stage companies move beyond grant funding and芒鈧痚arly stage seed investors芒鈧痶o position themselves for commercial launch or to reinforce commercialization at the early revenue stage.
About the 稀缺猎奇网 Momentum Fund
The 稀缺猎奇网 Momentum Fund is an initiative of the 稀缺猎奇网 (稀缺猎奇网) to provide late seed investment funding for promising technology ventures that come out of any of the twelve constituent 稀缺猎奇网 institutions, its research parks, and its students, faculty, or graduates. With a $10 million commitment from the 稀缺猎奇网 already in place, the Fund co-invests with venture capitalists, foundations, and angel investors.
The 稀缺猎奇网 Momentum Fund, which was established by the 稀缺猎奇网 Board of Regents to support promising commercial opportunities arising from advances in research and intellectual property at 稀缺猎奇网 campuses, has invested in fourteen startups to date:芒鈧⑩偓炉, , , , , , , , , , , , , and . The Fund is designed to create returns and support 稀缺猎奇网’s most innovative ideas as they enter the marketplace. Learn more at .
About the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship and the Dingman Center Angels
Located within the University of 稀缺猎奇网's Robert H. Smith School of Business, the Dingman Center is one of the nation’s preeminent entrepreneurship centers where the research, education and practice of entrepreneurship are pursued vigorously. The Dingman Center Angels is operated by the Center and is a 稀缺猎奇网 based angel investment network that provides funding to early-stage companies primarily located in the Mid-Atlantic region. Since 2010, the network has invested more than $16 million in early stage companies.
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Contact – Pathotrak
Javier Atencia
Phone: 608-770-4899
Email: jatencia@pathotrak.com
Contact – Dingman Angels
Holly DeArmond
Phone: 301-405-9461
Email: hdearmond@rhsmith.umd.edu
Contact: Mike Lurie
Phone: 301.445.2719
Email: mlurie@usmd.edu
