Cambridge-based biotech startup Fuse Diagnostics has raised £1.6m to develop its new platforms that test industrial products for pathogens.
The company currently has two diagnostic testing platforms in the works. Flip, which is aimed at the industrial, bioprocessing, food and water testing industries, along with Apex for more advanced industrial testing.
The company said its products also have applications in the clinical diagnostics and veterinary industries.
Fuse Diagnostics chief executive Harry Lamble claimed the firm’s platforms can produce results in “under 10 minutes” due to the startup’s “proprietary ultra-rapid amplification chemistries”.
“We are bringing gold standard laboratory performance into small, low-cost, disposable tests that anyone can use,” Lamble said.
“The simple product format enables users to test on demand in any location – all they have to do is apply the sample and wait for the clear visual result.”
The seed investment round came from a syndicate of angel investors and the government agency Innovate UK.
Lamble founded Fuse Diagnostics along with his brother Ralph. The two previously founded Sense Biodetection, which released one of the first instrument-free rapid molecular diagnostic tests during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The brothers founded Fuse Diagnostics following the acquisition of Sense Biodetection in early 2023 by US firm Sherlock Biosciences.