SIXSENSO spun out of ICFO in October 2020 after developing for more than eight years in ICFO’s KTT Launchpad. Their photonics-based technology detects fluorescence emitted both naturally and by induced labelling techniques emitted by microorganisms. It comprises a microfluidic labelling system and a laser-based fluorescence reader system, both coupled to a front-end sample concentrator system, which takes the target waters under investigation and converts them into a useful volume for system analysis. The complete Sixsenso system is designed to be extremely accurate, portable, cost-effective, and easy to integrate within a process stream or for on-site measurements with a time to result one order of magnitude lower than gold standard methods. Suitable for bathing water, harbor water and ballast water regulations compliance, with direct applicability in wastewater, industrial water, fresh water, beverage quality control, and for early detection of biological contamination to avoid outbreaks.

The incubation received support from the Government of Catalonia, the Ministry of Economy, Industry and Competitiveness of Spain, the Barcelona City Council and the Castelldefels City Council, ACCIO under  the Programme Ajuts destinats a incentivar els projectes de creació d’empreses de base tecnològica de les universitats, instituts de recerca hospitalari, centres tecnològics i altres centres de recerca amb una unitat de comercialització tecnològica (SixSenso-Water, VALUNI16-1-0083 and IMACYT, 2014 PROD 00069) and the  European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement 642356 (CYTO-WATER).

Sixsenso emerged from research in the Optoelectronics group led by ICREA Professor at ICFO Dr. Valerio Pruneri, a founding member of the company. Pedro Martínez helped to develop this technology from its earliest stages as a research engineer at ICFO, and continued as Sixsenso’s CTO. Adrian Parker, Sixsenso’s CEO, first collaborated with the development of the Sixsenso technology as an industry collaborator in related H2020 projects. He joined the Sixsenso team to bring his experience with water treatment systems as well as sales and marketing in water industry sector.