Biota Closes $3 Million Seed Round Led by Burnt Island Ventures to Scale Commercial Deployment of PFAS Testing Technologies

Financing will help meet growing demand for faster PFAS data across field and laboratory workflows

LONGMONT, Colo., July 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Biota Inc., an environmental diagnostics company developing faster technologies for per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) testing, today announced that it has closed a $3 million seed financing led by Burnt Island Ventures, with significant participation from DeepWork Capital. The round also included renewed participation from Antler, which led Biota's previous financing, as well as Beyond Utility Water Ventures and the Deming Center Venture Fund.

PFAS are a large family of synthetic chemicals used since the 1940s to make products resistant to heat, oil, stains, grease and water. Known as "forever chemicals," they do not easily break down, persist in soil and water, and can accumulate in the human body. Exposure to certain PFAS has been linked to liver and immune-system effects, pregnancy complications and some cancers.

"The technology to treat PFAS is advancing, but the ability to measure it has not kept pace," said Rose Nash, PhD, founder and CEO of Biota. "Organizations cannot optimize treatment systems, map contamination or make rapid remediation decisions when critical data takes weeks to arrive. This financing gives us the capital and strategic partners to bring faster testing tools to the organizations doing the hard work of PFAS monitoring and remediation. I am deeply grateful to our earliest investors, the new investors joining us and the extraordinary Biota team that brought us to this moment. Now, we get to work."

Biota's platform accelerates PFAS analysis across both field and laboratory workflows. RapidTest™ is a rapid screening platform designed to provide results in approximately 15 minutes. MagnaPrep™ uses proprietary magnetic nanoparticle technology to streamline laboratory sample preparation.

"The scale of the PFAS challenge will require fundamentally faster and more distributed testing infrastructure," said Tom Ferguson, Founder and Managing Partner at Burnt Island Ventures. "Rose and the Biota team combine exceptional scientific capability with a firsthand understanding of the analytical bottlenecks slowing the market. We believe Biota can become a critical enabling platform for the PFAS treatment and remediation industry."

"Biota is addressing a rapidly growing market need with technology that could transform how PFAS contamination is measured and ultimately remediated," said Benjamin Patz, Managing Partner at DeepWork Capital. "The company has assembled an exceptional team, and we are excited to support Biota as it brings faster, more actionable PFAS testing to market."

The financing will help scale sales and customer operations, continued advancement of Biota's rapid PFAS testing tools and expansion of its environmental diagnostics platform to additional contaminants, including microplastics.

Biota recently opened a 7,500-square-foot laboratory and innovation center in Longmont, Colorado, supporting product development, manufacturing and customer deployments.

Biota has received support from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the State of Colorado's Advanced Industries Program. The company also participates in gener8tor's Great Lakes Innovation Accelerator, supported by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Department of Commerce, and Imagine H2O's global water innovation ecosystem.

To learn more about Biota and its PFAS testing platform, visit www.biota-labs.com.

About Biota

Biota is an environmental diagnostics company developing faster technologies for PFAS monitoring and analysis. The company's platform combines rapid screening with innovative laboratory sample preparation technologies to help organizations generate more timely and actionable environmental data. Biota is headquartered in Longmont, Colorado.

About Burnt Island Ventures

Burnt Island Ventures is a specialist venture capital firm investing in entrepreneurs building technologies and businesses for the water sector. The firm supports companies addressing critical water challenges through technology, innovation and scalable business models.

About DeepWork Capital

DeepWork Capital is an early-stage venture capital firm founded in 2015 in Orlando, Florida. The firm invests in tech-forward founders addressing the world's biggest problems in the technology and life sciences sectors, with a focus on underserved venture capital markets. Learn more at deepworkcapital.com.

Media Contact

Rose Nash, PhD
Founder and CEO
Biota Inc.
[email protected] 
www.biota-labs.com 

SOURCE Biota Inc.