The Chronicle Herald (Provincial)
Pathogen detection firm moving to Sydney
Kraken Sense project finds issues in food, water
SYDNEY — In November an egg recall across Atlantic Canada had consumers scrambling to their refrigerators to check date and production information to avoid getting sick.
The possibility of salmonella in those eggs led to a mass recall of the product, but a soon-tobe Sydney-based company is working on methods to head off such issues before food reaches a supermarket.
Kraken Sense has created an automated pathogen detection platform for food producers and water companies that includes sensors to detect bacterial contamination in real time.
“We are definitely a rare case in the sense that we are mixing nanotechnology with biotechnology with machine learning and it is with support from various universities and research council partners,” said company co-founder and CEO Nisha Sarveswaran.
“We are very unique in that everybody else uses a culturebased method for testing. That means they can’t have it in food processing because you don’t want to have cross-contamination and things like that. We are not growing the bacteria at all and therefore we can have it actually just off the conveyor belt sampling constantly. It’s a very simple process that’s affordable and fully Canadian
made.”
Sarveswaran said the innovation allows for small-batch testing, instead of just once a day. Smaller batch testing means a problem can be addressed quicker and eliminates the need for a food processor to lose an entire batch.
The two-year-old startup is currently based in Mississauga, Ont., but is expected to complete a move to the Verschuren Centre at Cape Breton University in the summer.
“CBU and Verschuren Centre are really making huge headways in this industry, especially in biotech,” Sarveswaran said in a phone interview.
“They have a lot of amazing equipment that is right for biotechnology companies, the bioreactor, and the biosafety lab they are putting in is incredible.”
Beth Mason, president of the Verschuren Centre for Sustainability in Energy and Environment, said Kraken Sense is one of a growing number of companies coming from across North America interested in the Verschuren Centre and access to its versatile and responsive business model that’s “wrapped around” world-class assets.
“We are one of only a few places in Canada to provide a technology platform in the form of complex pilot-scale bioreactors that are needed to scale microbial production capacity,” Mason said.
“This is accompanied by a dedicated suite of analytical equipment and personnel to help companies to test and prove out their new products for customers in the marketplace. These include products
like the pathogen detection units of Kraken to functional ingredients, natural crop protection products and green chemicals.”
Kraken Sense has five employees and is searching for three more to work in Sydney.
The company was recently named one of 18 startups to receive seed funding from Sustainable Development Technology Canada.
Sarveswaran said that funding will help the company look at ways to reduce waste by ensuring food is safe.
“It is really going to be focused on trying to reduce the overall carbon footprint while making sure everything is lower cost and easily more accessible.”
Other Atlantic Canadian seed fund recipients include Duxion Motors, an advanced motor
design and manufacturing company in St. John’s that is developing next-generation electric propulsion systems for aircraft and UAVS.
Nexus Robotics in Halifax was another recipient for its autonomous robot that uses a camera system to differentiate between weeds and crops.
Marine protective coatings producer Graphite Innovation and Technologies in Dartmouth was also granted seed funding.