NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – VUV Analytics has raised $5.8 million in a series A round of funding, the Austin, Texas molecular spectroscopy instruments maker said this week.
The firm said the investment was led by S3 Ventures. It didn't name any other investors in the round.
VUV said that its new vacuum ultraviolet optical spectroscopy instruments "exhibit unprecedented capabilities well beyond the state of the art in gas chromatography." It added that the technology offers affordable lower detection limits, "significantly more" information content for characterization, and better of ease of use compared to other approaches.
The firm is targeting a variety of fields where gas chromatography is employed including life and environmental sciences, pharmaceuticals, forensics, agrochemicals, and food and beverage safety.
VUV CEO Sean Jameson said that the funds will enable the firm to rapidly expand its sales and marketing staff as it commercializes its first product. "This instrument is expected to revolutionize the detection methods associated with gas chromatography, which is the most commonly used analytical technique in the world."
As part of the financing, S3 Ventures Managing Director Brian Smith will join VUV's board of directors.