Moledotech Ltd will receive TDA International Trade Bursary to support their ambitions to export to international markets.

Encouraging more Torbay companies to identify new country export markets is a key objective of Torbay Council’s economic strategy to deliver business growth.

Molendotech, a life science company who moved in to Brixham Laboratory in July, is a start-up borne from a spin-out project from the University of Plymouth.

The company has developed a rapid, point-of-use test used to determine the concentration of faecal bacteria present in water. Current tests in the market may take hours or even days to show results, whereas Molendotech’s technology typically produces results in under 15 minutes. The novel technology can be adapted to as a screen for other types of bacteria and so has applications across many industries.

To develop export markets for the Molendotech products in North America, Molendotech will showcase the product at conferences and trade fairs. The company’s first conference is the Water Microbiology Conference at the University of North Carolina in the US, next month.

Professor Simon Jackson, CEO of Molendotech, said: “The bursary will support our commercial opportunity to expand into new global markets with our products and help achieve new growth. The Water Microbiology Conference is a forum for researchers and practitioners focused on microbiology and public health issues to come together. Attendance at the conference will allow interaction with potential buyers and give opportunities to exchange ideas, debate topics and explore potential collaborations.

“We have recently entered into a collaboration agreement with growers based in Cambridgeshire to assess the quality of their irrigation and wash waters and samples of produce. Similar industries throughout the world, including US growers, would likely be interested in using our assay kits to reduce time delays that are costly to their agricultural business. Our stand at the conference will maximise our potential to target these new buyers. Our market research has identified there are approximately 20,000 companies across North America and Europe whom we could work with to develop assays for their applications. ”

Collaborations with companies in North America to develop products for their markets will require the expansion of Molendotech in Torbay with the employment of additional staff over the next 12-18 months.

Jason Buck, Investment Development Manager at TDA, said: “It is great to be able to assist Molendotech with their attendance at such a significant conference for them. It gives them the opportunity to present the company’s developments in research in water testing markets and demonstrate their expertise. To be able to network and develop collaborations with companies in North America through this activity is key to their export objectives.

“Molendotech is the third business that we have been able to support through the International Trade Bursary. We have seen businesses across industries including Marine, Life Science and Corporate Training all use the bursary to target new export markets.”

The TDA International Trade Bursary is available to Torbay based SMEs looking to enter a new country market. Companies interested in applying should contact Jason Buck, TDA Investment Development Manager on 01803 208799 or email jason.buck@tda.uk.net

To find out more about how TDA can provide export support visit www.tda-business.com/export-support