Sionex

About Sionex

Sionex Corporation, founded in 2001, operated in the field of chemical and biological sensors. The company focused on commercializing Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) based sensor chips, utilizing a proprietary detection technology exclusively licensed from The Charles Stark Draper Laboratory. This technology centered on differential mobility spectrometry (DMS), a technique for separating ions in the gas phase, which allows for the detection and analysis of chemical compounds. Sionex's business model revolved around the development and sale of these advanced sensor chips and integrated micro-gas analyzer products to various industries requiring high-sensitivity chemical detection.

Over its operational history, Sionex secured significant financial backing, raising a total of $28.4 million over four funding rounds. The initial funding round occurred on June 18, 2002, with subsequent rounds including a Series B of $12.8 million in November 2003 and a Series C of $12 million in December 2005. Key investors included notable firms such as Morgenthaler, Rho Capital Partners, In-Q-Tel, and Dow Chemical Company. The company's technology offered the capability to create miniaturized, low-power, and high-performance chemical detectors for applications such as industrial process control, environmental monitoring, and security.

The company's core product was its micro-gas analyzer, which integrated the MEMS-based DMS chip. This product was designed to provide rapid and accurate identification and quantification of chemical vapors. The primary benefit was its ability to separate difficult-to-resolve ions, overcoming interferences from other compounds in complex samples. This capability allowed for enhanced analytical selectivity beyond what traditional methods could offer, enabling the detection of isobaric compounds and reducing background noise to improve detection limits. Sionex was ultimately reported as defunct in 2010. The intellectual property and technology related to differential mobility spectrometry, similar to what Sionex developed, are now part of product lines from other major analytical instrument companies.