Executive Summary

Figure 1: Overview of our technology

In the oil extraction process, over 200 million litres of waste is produced and contained in massive lakes known as tailing ponds. These ponds are a serious concern to both the environment and for industry practices. Alberta’s Provincial government enforces a zero discharge policy of water from tailing ponds and government regulation requires that oil sands companies monitor tailing ponds and water quality in the surrounding lakes and water streams. Present technology for monitoring water quality in the oil sands are highly sensitive, however they pose concerns due to the expensive nature of the technologies, requirements for highly trained personnel, and the need for materials to be shipped to off-site facilities. In order to meet the growing need to monitor samples on-site and with greater detection speed new technology is needed.

Introducing FREDsense, a biosensor detection system to determine general toxicity in a water sample. FRED is rapid and capable of sensing toxicity in less than 5 minutes, in-expensive due to simple materials in its construction, and highly robust through the implemented control systems. FREDsense is a platform technology, and can be applied to numerous different markets as new products are developed, making it flexible and capable of bringing multiple revenue streams.

Our first target vertical market is oil and gas water monitoring. With the number of sample sites in 2011, general toxicity sensing holds a market of up to $50 million in the industry. Annual profitability predictions based on similar competitive products suggest that FREDsense could reach annual profits of up to $2,654,000 by capturing 30% of the Alberta market. With the expected growth of monitoring sites to more than double we see this as a growing market.

Presently, detection is completed by expensive analytical machinery such as mass spectrometry. Portable biosensors systems do exist in this market, primarily marketed under the name MicroTox. MicroTox has established a powerful market presence, however it has numerous limitations due to its limited accuracy, expense, and sample limitations. As the major general toxin monitoring system in the market, MicroTox has dominated the market. By partnering with our end-user customer base, namely HydroQual one of the six major companies responsible for water quality testing in the oil and gas market, we hope to gain a foothold in this marketplace.

We have established a group of advisors and students with a firm foundation in science, chemistry, engineering, law, and business strategy. Our team consists of six biology/chemistry students, two professors, and numerous industry representatives.

FREDsense is a product based company with a revenue model consisting of a detector and cartridge units. Recurring revenue is procured by selling cartridge units for each sample that needs to be taken. Detector units will be sold independently of the cartridges, and a single detector will be needed for multiple samplings.

Our overarching goal is to develop a biosensor technology with clear advantages in the oil and gas industry that can revolutionize how current testing is performed. The technologies we are leveraging to build out biosensors have immense flexibility to respond to changing market trends and new market verticals.

Company Description

FREDsense focuses on the development of novel, field-ready electrochemical detectors for oil sands applications. We are a product and an R&D company based out of Calgary, Canada, focused on synthetic biology and electrochemical biosensors.

Our flagship product is a general toxin electrochemical sensor for use in water quality testing. The system involves the use of an electrochemical detector unit with a cartridge system to which water samples are added, representing a renewable income stream as customers must continuously purchase new cartridges for each sample tested. Our unique bacterial strain senses the presence of various toxins and reports if the sample has high enough threshold toxicity to be of toxicological concern.

Our principal market is within environmental consulting and monitoring, specifically for the oil and gas sector. However, our system can be applied to a wide variety of applications, ranging from environmental to health and even manufacturing. The electrochemical system our technology uses is diverse and the general toxin sensor is a first generation product that will allow us to move into various markets over time. Next generation products will include related sensors for a variety of other compounds including sensors for naphthenic acids and hydrocarbons.

We have developed a technology with distinct market advantages compared to competing products. The components of our system are cost effective as they reduce the per unit cost to our consumer while maintaining valuable profit margins. Secondly, our technology is a rapid detector that is faster than any other system on the market presently. This is a significant competitive advantage, particularly as market conditions evolve to meet more stringent and dramatically increased regulatory requirements for the number of monitored sites.