Dive Brief:
- Nima (formerly 6 Sensor Labs, Inc.), maker of a portable sensor that detects gluten in food, has closed a $9.2 million round of Series A funding.
- Foundry Group was the lead investor with participation from Nest founder Matt Rogers and current investors Upfront Ventures, SoftTech VC, SK Ventures, Lemnos Labs, and Mitch Kapor.
- Foundry Group managing director Brad Feld also joined the board at Nima.
Dive Insight:
Nima currently creates a portable gluten sensor for food, but the company plans to expand its detection capabilities to also include peanuts and milk.
For many manufacturers, such a device won't make a difference because the manufacturer already only makes claims it can back up with science-based documentation. They won't want to run the potentially costly risk of a recall and the litigation that could come with it should the company not include mention of allergens or otherwise mislabel its product.
Manufacturers could also use this type of safety detection tool to their advantage by using it themselves as another layer of quality control. By randomly testing samples of different batches with the Nima sensor, they will know whether a batch is contaminated with an allergen.