A Madison startup that creates a device to test for allergens in food just raised a new round of funding as it prepares to bring its product to market.
Allergy Amulet announced Wednesday that it raised $3.3 million in a seed round led by TitletownTech, a venture fund backed by Microsoft and the Green Bay Packers. Other investors in the round include Great North Labs, Colle Capital, Great Oaks VC, DeepWork Capital, Dipalo Ventures and Bulldog Innovation Group. The startup has raised around $5 million to date.
Founded in 2016, Allergy Amulet is developing a disposable test strip that can determine within seconds whether food has particular allergens in it. Led by CEO and co-founder Abigail Barnes, who has lived with life-threatening food allergies since childhood and experienced a near-fatal anaphylactic event as a teenager, Allergy Amulet aims to be a game-changer for the millions of Americans living with food allergies.
Here’s how it works: The Allergy Amulet is small enough to fit in your pocket or on a keychain, and stylish enough to be worn as a necklace or a wristband. The device has two parts— a USB-sized reader and a test strip that contains proprietary sensor chips. Users collect a sample of the food with the test strip, and turn the top of the tester to grind the sample. A chip then slides out from the test strip and is inserted into the reader. The results appear on the reader within a matter of seconds, alerting the user if an allergen is present in their food. Test results can also be stored in the startup’s mobile app.
Barnes said the startup will use the new funding to begin launching pre-orders this fall and manufacture a run of beta units. Allergy Amulet plans to officially launch in fall 2021. The startup also plans to add to its staff, which currently is made up of eight employees.
