Upstart cell research and biotech firm CBio recently launched its first product, cellPhoresis.
The product is targeted toward companies doing bioremediation after a variety of disasters, such as nuclear accidents, oil spills or outbreaks of diseases at beaches.
“After disasters, companies use bioremediation to clean the environment. They use living microorganisms like yeast, E. coli, and algae to clean toxic soil, air or water. These companies need ways to check if the microorganisms are working and, if working, performing in the pace companies need,” said Messias Soares, vice president of product marketing at CBio.
CBio’s cell-sorting product goes on-site, so samples can be collected and analyzed immediately, rather than needing a lab.
Soares said there are over 10,000 companies using bioremediation in the U.S.
By creating what it describes as a faster, more efficient way to study live cells, cellPhoresis will allow the acceleration of related products in agriculture, biology, clean tech industry and defense, according to the company.
The startup, part of University of California-Irvine’s UCI Beall Applied Innovation Wayfinder incubator, said it is also partnering with several “high-profile” companies in a variety of industries on pilot studies which will launch in the third quarter of this year.
Soares said the company names could not be released due to confidentiality agreements.
CBio is currently raising a $2 million seed round.
