Manufacturing & Supply Chain

A spin-out company from Queens University Belfast that specialises in medtech that can be used as diagnostic instruments has won £500,000 in funding.

Kernel Capital, a venture fund from the Bank of Ireland, has provided the capital for Causeway Sensors as part of its Growth Fund (NI) that was designed to help SMEs in Northern Ireland to accelerate their growth.

Causeway Sensors have developed novel nanostructured chips for sensing applications accompanied with a reading device for the detection and measurement of various proteins.

Set up by Queen’s academics Dr Robert Pollard, Prof. Robert Bowman and Dr John Nelson, their technology can be used as a diagnostic instrument across multiple applications, including the detection of early-stage cancer and other diseases.

Causeway Sensors is targeting expansion in the global biosensor industry, which is estimated to reach as high as €22 billion by 2020. The company was founded after over 10 years of research and was partly supported by Invest NI via a R&D grant.

Dr Pollard, CEO at Causeway Sensors, says: “We are delighted to secure investment from Kernel Capital through The Bank of Ireland Kernel Capital Growth Fund. This investment is a great confidence boost for Causeway Sensors and will allow us to expedite our growth plans to commercialise and scale our technology. Together with continued support from both Kernal and QUBIS, the company is focused on delivering on our innovation roadmap.”