News: Portfolio 2004

Microplate Automation Receives $3M

By VentureWire Staff Reporters

8/4/04

 

Microplate Automation Inc., a developer of atmospheric plasma cleaning technology, received a $3 million investment in June, according to a release from Rutgers University.

 

Anthem Capital, Pennsylvania Early Stage and the New Jersey Technology Council Venture Fund provided the capital.

 

The company is incubated at the Rutgers-Camden Business Incubator, which is a partnership between the Rutgers University School of Business, the Delaware River Port Authority and the New Jersey Commission on Science and Technology.

 

 

 

 

Chief Executive Paul Hensley filed a patent in January 2000 on Microplate's plasma cleaning technology and the company formed a few months later. The investment allows the company to manufacture its TipCharger product, which uses plasma to clean miniscule amounts of organic materials on pipet tips.

 

Pipets are the tubes used in laboratories for measuring liquids or transferring them from one container to another. The pipetting probes used on these devices need to be cleaned after each compound transfer to avoid carryover and cross-contamination between compounds. Cleaning applications require plastic pipet tips or organic solvent washes whereas TipCharger works with room temperature atmospheric pressure plasma, the release said.

 

Hensley was the sole employee for most of Microplate's lifespan but is looking to expand operations.