Bia Analytical, an advanced technology and software company focused upon food authenticity, safety and quality, spun out of the Institute for Global Food Security ('IFGS') at The Queen's University of Belfast ('QUB'), is delighted to announce both the appointment of a new Chief Executive Officer ('CEO'), Chief Technology Officer ('CTO'), and a successful investment round involving an outstanding collection of new strategically significant partners.
Bia Analytical was launched as a start-up venture in spring 2020, emerging from the world-class proprietary research at IGFS, led by founder Professor Chris Elliott, with a focus on identifying and reducing the major problem of food fraud across the globe. Spearheaded by Richard Ilsley and Dr Terry McGrath, the company has, since its inception, focused upon proof-of-concept work in food authentication, initially in the herb & spice arena, subsequently evolving into additional larger food groups such as cereals and meat. This work has seen Bia Analytical develop a revolutionary portable testing solution for in-situ testing as well as ground-breaking cloud-based applications.
The company is delighted to appoint Simon Cole as our new CEO and Gareth Burns as our CTO. Simon has worked in the software and technology industry for over 25 years was a founder and most recently CEO of Automated Intelligence Ltd. Gareth is an experienced start-up co-founder in the software industry. The commencement of these appointments with immediate effect, plus co-founder of Bia Analytical, Dr Terry McGrath who assumes the role of Chief Science Officer ('CSO') gives us a triumvirate that will drive the business into the next phases of its development.
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Richard Ilsley will cease to be CEO of Bia following these appointments and the Board and shareholders put on record their appreciation for his diligent and effective leadership and smooth handover to Simon.
Accompanying these key appointments, Bia Analytical also announces the completion of a successful funding round that includes key complementary investors to support the company’s advancement. Investors in Bia Analytical feature key leaders in the food and consumer science worlds - Oritain, Cranswick plc, Fayrefield Foods, QUBIS and VeeTee Rice - plus entrepreneurs, innovators and investors including Andrew & Angela Higginson, Tom Singh, Charles Wilson, and Andrew Xeni.
Commenting upon these recent developments, Bia Analytical Chair, Dr Clive Black, stated: 'The company was born from a world-class food science resource to take its first steps in addressing more accurately, quickly, and efficiently the growing challenges of food fraud, integrity, and safety across the globe. Under Richard and Terry, for whom I sincerely thank, the concept has been proven and with the additional experience and capability of Simon and Gareth on board, we are primed to go through our next phases of our growth, including in wider product silos such as apparel. The involvement of our expanded investor base is so appreciated, so exciting and so humbling as we seek to deliver on their great support'.
Bia Analytical Founder, Professor Chris Elliott stated, 'The integrity of the world’s food system has never had so many challenges. Bia Analytical brings a very new dynamic to ensuring that what companies and consumers buy is safe and authentic. The expansion of the company is not only timely to deal with many of the integrity challenges we face but also to show that cutting edge science and technology can play a massive role in protecting reputable businesses and their customers.'
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Simon Cole, Bia Analytical’s new CEO stated, 'Over the past few months I have got to know the team behind Bia Analytical and grasped an appreciation of the opportunity and potential that exists within the capabilities of the company. I have become increasingly keen to engage and help to drive the success of one of the most exciting companies in the fight for food safety and security on a global scale. I’m delighted to be joining the world class scientific team in Bia Analytical who continue to create incredible and unique breakthroughs in this field. I’m equally impressed by the Board and investor team, many of whom are globally recognised leaders in the food security and safety market. Having spent my career helping technology companies grow to achieve their full potential, I’m delighted to join Bia Analytical as we look to bring world class and unique scientific discovery together with ground-breaking technology to revolutionise the food market and beyond."
From the new Bia Analytical investor base, Grant Cochrane, CEO of Oritain said 'Oritain is very pleased to have invested in, and partnered with Bia Analytical to further advance the latest science and technology in the food authenticity market. As food supply chains become ever more complex and regulation tightened, the importance of integrity and transparency is only going to increase, we are looking forward to working with Bia Analytical to scale the adoption of this fantastic technology and advance greater trust and integrity in the everyday products we consume.
Adam Couch, CEO of Cranswick plc, commented, ‘The integrity of the food we produce is of the utmost importance to Cranswick. Being able to validate that the raw materials we source are safe, and of the quality and origin that we require, using resources such as that provided by Bia Analytical are extremely valuable to us and support the trust that our customers have in our products. We are pleased to continue to work with BIA Analytical and invest in the future success of the business’.
Source: Written from press release