Spin-out company wins Royal Society of Chemistry prize

21 July 2023

A spin-out company, co-founded by Hertford Chemistry Fellow Professor Claire Vallance and alumnus Dean James, amongst others, has won a prestigious Royal Society of Chemistry Emerging Technologies Prize. Their new company, Mode Labs, has developed a sensor for environmental monitoring of water pollution, providing a low-cost, portable, real-time method for quantifying pollutants in natural waterways. It beat five other initiatives in the Environment category.

Mode Labs optical microcavity technology provides a 10,000-fold enhancement to chemical absorption signals, enabling robust miniaturised field-deployable sensors. These sensors are easy-to-deploy and significantly more scalable than existing approaches, allowing for targeted intervention, improved regulatory compliance, and improved environmental outcomes.

The Emerging Technologies Competition is the Royal Society of Chemistry’s annual initiative for early-stage companies and academic entrepreneurs who want to commercialise their technologies to make a societal impact. It was launched 10 years ago to celebrate the very best of chemical science innovation, catapult exciting ideas towards commercialisation through a dedicated support package, and raise the profile of often overlooked solutions to society’s biggest challenges.

Dean James said: “Winning this prize is going to do fantastic things for Mode Labs. The recognition from such a prestigious institution is going to help us massively in a field where partnerships are key – forming partnerships with all of our collaborators and potential customers within the water sector is vital to what we do.

Congratulations to Claire and Dean, and the rest of the Mode Labs team!