Nima Launches New Portable Peanut Sensor
Following the success of its pocket-sized Gluten Sensor, Nima unveiled its portable Peanut Sensor earlier this month. Like its award-winning Gluten Sensor, Nima’s Peanut Sensor lets people quickly test their food if they are unsure if an allergen is present.
Three million people in the US suffer from peanut allergies. Their reactions can range from stomach aches to skin reactions to anaphylaxis. Even foods that are presented as free of an allergen frequently are not, and this can cause severe problems for allergy and sensitivity sufferers. Nima provides an effective, discrete way to avoid potential problems.
“Nima is finding gluten in about 30 percent of dishes labeled as gluten-free,” notes Shireen Yates, CEO and co-founder of Nima, a Lemnos portfolio company. “The peanut-free community is eager to incorporate this device into their lives to help make better decisions about what they eat. We want people to be their healthiest selves.”
With the Peanut Sensor anyone can test liquid or solid food by putting a small sample into a testing capsule and placing that in a detector designed to reveal traces of peanut protein at an accuracy of at least 20 parts per million. If peanut protein is found, a peanut icon appears on the display. If none is detected, then a smile appears. Like the gluten sensor, the peanut detector also connects to an Android or iOS app that allows customers to share results, rate restaurants, and search for dining and packaged food options.
Nima also announced a second generation of it Gluten Sensor. The new version has an improved sensor for faster results and the ability to process more types of foods, and a more comprehensive restaurant database that now includes international locations and information across multiple locations. So if you go to a chain restaurant, you know you will be safe to eat a particular dish that has tested gluten or peanut-free repeatedly in different cities.
The improved sensor also has a premium membership plan that provides access to Nima-tested restaurant and packaged food reports, gluten-free partner discounts and offer, a free 12-pack of test capsules every six months, and discounts on additional capsules.
In addition to a Small Business Innovation Research grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop this sensor, Nima raised Series A funding for to develop both the gluten and peanut sensors from Lemnos and other firms.
“Lemnos helped us build a foundation for not only a great company but also a great product,” says Yates. “We were able to leverage everything we did on the hardware side for the gluten sensor. And the Lemnos community of other CEOs has been a great. Even though we no longer share the same roof, we have a trusted cohort we can depend on.”
The company is currently developing sensors for dairy and tree nuts. To join the waitlist for these and other allergen sensors, go here. To purchase a Nima sensor, visit their online store. And to hear more from Nima’s co-founders Shireen Yates and Scott Sundvor, listen to Season One, Episode Nine of “Into the Forge”, the Lemnos podcast.