Untap
Untap is on a mission to transform the way viral diseases are detected. With backgrounds in water tech and sewage tech, it has created a cost-effective solution for tracking community health via wastewater. In that sense, the company provides an early warning system, detecting the presence of carriers whether they are asymptomatic (no symptoms), pre-symptomatic (up to a week before symptoms appear), or symptomatic — with its daily monitoring enabling the appropriate response to the measured risk.
Funding π°
Total Β£1.1M
Select investors SOSV, HAX Boost, Innovate UK, Ascension, 7percent Ventures, British Design Fund
Key people π§βπ€βπ§
- Claire Trant Ph.D - Co-founder & CEO
- Jay Bullen Ph.D - Co-founder & CTO
Highlights β
- It works: Wastewater surveillance is used to detect infectious diseases, to understand community prevalence and to identify rising and falling case rates. Using PCR technology, wastewater surveillance can achieve 96% positive detection rates (sensitive) and 100% negative detection rates (specific). Unlike blood or saliva tests, where individuals must give time and submit to invasive testing procedures, wastewater monitoring is 100% passive, and the data is already anonymised.
- It matters: It is estimated that 25% of all viral transmission occurs in the workplace. By the time Covid-19 is detected in one symptomatic individual, it is often widespread with multiple asymptomatic carriers. Untap's early warning system can detect the presence of carriers before symptoms present and in asymptomatic carriers.
- Patent-pending tech: Untap's patent pending, automated and real-time wastewater surveillance system can detect viruses, such as Covid-19, to monitor community prevalence and identify case rates without the need for individual testing. The technology is able to detect a single infected person amongst 10,000 that are healthy and can monitor a whole community for diseases using one test while ensuring 100% participation.
Video βΆοΈ
Quotes π¬
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We're delighed to welcome Untap to the BDF portfolio. Monitoring viral outbreaks through individual testing is expensive, time consuming and invasive. Untap offers a solution with technology that has huge potential to help monitor and tackle transmissible diseases across the world. Our investee committee were not only impressed by the calibre of the Untap team but also the potential of their technology to impact on global communities.
— Damon Bonser, CEO of British Design Fund (BDF) π
Last update: April 18, 2023
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