1st Detect Receives $1.8 Million Investment for Commercialization of Chemical Detector
Mar. 3, 2010 – 1st Detect Corporation announced today it is the recipient of a $1.8 million investment from the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF). The investment will go toward commercialization of 1st Detect’s portable mass spectrometer, used to detect residues and vapors from a wide range of chemicals, including explosives, chemical warfare agents, toxic chemicals, and volatile organic compounds.
“Now more than ever, companies are looking to Texas as the best state in the nation to foster and grow innovative technologies thanks to our skilled and educated workforce and investments from the TETF,” Gov. Perry said. “This investment in 1st Detect will help make the detection of harmful substances more accurate and cost efficient, and will be an important tool for a variety of industries, from security to medicine.”
1st Detect Corporation was initially formed by Astrotech Corporation to commercialize miniature-mass spectrometer technology first developed for the International Space Station. 1st Detect created the Miniature Chemical Detector (MCD), a product that revolutionizes the chemical detection market by combining the performance of a mass spectrometer in a small, easily portable package. The broadband nature of the instrument, as well as the extreme performance provided by the ion trap architecture, makes the 1st Detect MCD an ideal detection tool for a variety of applications, including security, healthcare and industrial markets.
The commercialization award will be used to finalize product design of the chemical detector and market it to the security, healthcare, and industrial sectors. 1st Detect plans on converting their early prototype into a working field model that can be deployed in a wide variety of applications. 1st Detect is currently partnered with The University of North Texas, which will supply expertise in product miniaturization, as well as developmental testing support.
More information available at www.1stdetect.com or www.astrotech.com.
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