The New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT) and the New Jersey Innovation Institute (NJII) have announced the official launch of PureTrace Labs, a startup poised to revolutionize the detection of harmful PFAS—or “forever chemicals”—in the environment.
This launch marks a significant milestone for NJIT’s innovation pipeline, as PureTrace Labs is the first official venture spun out of NJII’s Venture Studio, an initiative backed by an investment of up to $1 million. The new company will commercialize an NJIT-developed technology that can rapidly detect PFAS in water, soil, and packaging materials in under three minutes.
“PureTrace Labs is the perfect embodiment of what the NJII Venture Studio was designed to do in commercializing intellectual property,” Michael Johnson, president of NJII said. “I am very proud of the team in building and starting to deploy a venture fund so quickly.”
The breakthrough technology
PureTrace Labs is founded on the research of Hao Chen, professor of chemistry and environmental science at NJIT, who now serves as the company’s co-founder and chief scientific officer. Professor Chen’s team developed a paper-spray mass spectrometry method that drastically reduces the time, cost and complexity of traditional PFAS testing.
Traditional laboratory testing for these persistent chemicals—which are linked to long-term health and environmental concerns—can take days and requires costly infrastructure. PureTrace’s approach offers the potential for portable, on-site analysis in minutes.
“Society cannot afford the old kind of system—academia has to redefine its role, not only in educating the future leaders, but also innovating solutions for unmet societal needs and bringing them to market,” Atam Dhawan, NJIT’s senior vice provost for research and executive director of the Center for Translational Research (CTR), said.
From lab to marketplace
The formation of PureTrace Labs highlights the success of NJIT’s comprehensive research commercialization pipeline, which moves innovation from discovery through the CTR to NJII’s Venture Studio. The company officially secured an exclusive startup license for the technology, NJIT Technology ID 24-016, “Method for Rapid Detection of PFAS,” during a signing event at the Profeta Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship.
PureTrace Labs, led by CEO Cassie Hallberg, will initially focus on developing field-ready PFAS detection devices for key users, including environmental monitoring agencies, municipalities, and industrial partners.
NJIT President Teik Lim views the launch as a validation of the university’s strategic vision. “Venture Studio aligns perfectly with NJIT and our 2030 strategic plan, which calls for the university to expand our role as a nexus of innovation,” Lim said. “We are indeed strengthening and expanding that nexus of innovation.”
The Venture Studio aims to launch 10 companies by 2030, each supported with up to $1 million, underscoring the joint mission of NJIT and NJII to transform New Jersey-based research discoveries into high-growth startups tackling global challenges.
