Sherbrooke, Que.-based BioAlert Solutions has raised a $2.5-million seed round to expand the reach of its automated water quality monitoring technology.
BioAlert’s focus is on detecting Legionella bacteria, which is responsible for a severe form of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease.
The company has developed a device that can detect water-borne pathogens in cooling systems in buildings, such as hospitals, data centres, and manufacturing plants. It also provides a remote software platform for managers to monitor contamination levels off-site.
BioAlert claims that its tech is up to five times more sensitive than the current industry standard of pathogen detection, allowing its clients to take preventive measures to avoid harmful contamination.
Two cleantech-focused firms, Cycle H20 and GreenSky Ventures, co-led the round, with participation from Fondaction and British Columbia-based angel investing network Spring Impact Capital. Cycle H20 is an early-stage focused on water tech, formed as a partnership between Montréal-based Cycle Capital and Québec City-based H20 Innovation. BioAlert previously raised $1.9 million in 2019, according to La Presse, as well as $900,000 through Sustainable Development Technology Canada in 2021.
“[BioAlert] 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,” Michael List, founder and managing partner of GreenSky Ventures, said in a statement.
BioAlert’s focus is on detecting Legionella bacteria, which is responsible for a severe form of pneumonia called Legionnaires’ disease.
BioAlert’s device continuously runs a biological technique called quantitative polymerase chain reaction, which amplifies and calculates the amount of a particular DNA sequence present in a sample. This allows the machine to target Legionella specifically and determine its concentration in a given water system. The monitoring system sends out an alert to building managers when the concentration crosses a harmful threshold.
BioAlert co-founder and CEO Étienne Lemieux told La Presse that the company’s mission was inspired by local public health history. A mass Legionella contamination event in Québec City in 2012, which killed 14 people and impacted nearly 180 others, led to the Québec government introducing more stringent regulations to protect citizens living close to industrial water cooling systems.
Wastewater monitoring technology also became a key data source for public health after the COVID-19 pandemic hit, when it was deployed across Canada to detect the levels of virus proliferating in the water. Health Canada still monitors national wastewater viral activity levels for COVID-19, flu, and other respiratory viruses.
BioAlert’s technology has been approved by Health Canada and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Lemieux told La Presse. The company said it’s already working with clients in industrial, commercial, and governmental facilities in both the United States and Canada.
The startup plans on using the funding to expand its reach from the currently 60-odd places it’s currently installed. It also hopes to expand its detection capabilities to include common pathogens such as E. coli and salmonella.
Feature image courtesy BioAlert.