Kraken Sense

Kraken Sense, founded in 2017 and based in the Toronto area, operates in the biotechnology and environmental tech sectors, offering a specialized pathogen detection platform. The company was established by CEO Nisha Sarveswaran and CTO Jamal Zeinalov. Sarveswaran's background in Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering, combined with a pivotal trip to India where she observed significant food safety challenges, inspired the creation of the company. This experience, coupled with the availability of rapid pathogen detection sensors, led to the formation of Kraken Sense to address the critical need for safe food and water.

The company's core offering is the KRAKEN™ device, a fully autonomous, real-time pathogen detection system. This platform continuously samples water sources and utilizes multiplex qPCR technology to identify specific strains of harmful microorganisms within an hour, a significant reduction from traditional lab testing which can take days. The technology is designed for seamless integration into existing systems, such as agricultural irrigation, to monitor for contaminants before they affect crops. By providing immediate warnings, the system aims to reduce resource waste and enhance public health and safety. The business model appears to be centered on selling these customized devices and single-use cartridges to various industries. Clients are in sectors including agriculture, food safety, biosurveillance, environmental monitoring, public health, and pharmaceutical manufacturing.

Kraken Sense has achieved several notable milestones, including filing for a patent to protect its intellectual property and being recognized as a runner-up in the SACYR Foundation's water challenge for its real-time pollutant detection in wastewater. The company also engaged in a significant project with Toronto Pearson Airport, funded by the National Research Council of Canada, to detect Monkeypox and Omicron variants in airport wastewater, demonstrating the technology's application in public health surveillance. The company has received funding from various sources, including a seed round led by IndieBio and grants from organizations like the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario and Ontario Genomics.

Keywords: pathogen detection, water quality monitoring, real-time testing, qPCR technology, food safety, agtech, environmental tech, microbial monitoring, autonomous sampling, biosurveillance, wastewater analysis, contamination detection, biotech, public health tech, pharmaceutical quality control, agricultural technology, waterborne pathogens, multiplex qPCR, environmental monitoring, sustainable agriculture