Funding fuels on-site pathogen detection expansion

Canadian water-tech company BioAlert Solutions has secured €1.6 million from an oversubscribed funding round to expand its on-site detection technology to increase the number of harmful pathogens it can monitor and track in water.

Founded to fight Legionella

The company was founded in 2014 to offer an on-site detection of the Legionella bacteria in industrial and commercial cooling systems. These systems can present ideal conditions for the growth of the bacteria which can cause a potentially fatal type of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease.

The company’s founders, Etienne Lemieux and Dominic Carrier, had noticed that no known solution was available to track outbreaks of the bacteria in cooling systems and that many operators were unaware of what was really going on in their towers. This followed stringent regulations introduced by the Québec government following an outbreak of disease in 2012 that left 14 people dead and 180 others ill.

More traditional methods of pathogen detection are reactive, slow and labour-intensive, with detection often occurring too late to prevent outbreaks of what can be a fatal disease.

BioAlert Solutions has developed an on-site detection technology that is the equal of laboratory-grade testing but has also proven to be five times more sensitive. It works by leveraging quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) by DNA amplification for detection of various harmful water pathogens. Data is relayed to a software platform for remote monitoring. By detecting rising pathogen levels on-site, managers and operators are able to take action before an outbreak occurs.

The technology has been approved by Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

Oversubscribed funding round validates technology

The latest funding round was led by Cycle H2O and GreenSky Ventures Montreal. Further participation came from Fondaction and Spring Impact Capital. Previous funding rounds have realised the equivalent of €1.2 million (in 2019) and €566,000 (in 2021).

Michael List, founder and managing partner of GreenSky Ventures told media: “BioAlert’s automated pathogen monitoring system minimizes Legionella risks while reducing costs. The company is poised to set the standard for real-time water quality monitoring, which will become increasingly important as regulations for monitoring expand across multiple jurisdictions.”

He added: “BioAlert’s strong traction, recurring revenue, and industry partnerships demonstrate the company’s valuable position in the market. GreenSky is excited to support BioAlert’s growth in delivering safer, more efficient water management solutions .”

Alain Longpré, deputy chief of Impact Investing at Fondaction was impressed by the savings associated with BioAlert’s technology: “The sanitary and environmental benefits of BioAlert’s automated solution are numerous such as real-time testing, reduced use of chemicals and fine particle emissions, water savings, fewer trips, and more. The technology developed by BioAlert will enable building managers to achieve significant gains on economic, social, and environmental levels.”

Expanding from legionella to other pathogens

BioAlert has already enjoyed commercial successes in industrial, commercial, government and healthcare facilities in Canada and the US that are at risk from legionella outbreaks, such as hospitals, manufacturing plants, and data centres, the company intends to use the latest funding round to expand the range of pathogens (for example, E.coli, Salmonella) it is able to detect and monitor. It also wants to move into new markets outside of North America.