NBIF And TVC Invest in Inversa Systems

The New Brunswick Innovation Foundation (NBIF) and the Technology Venture Corporation (TVC) today announced the completion of a venture capital investment of $500,000 in Inversa Systems Limited. The Fredericton-based company that specializes in imaging scanning technology will use funds to respond to growing market demand, and to unlock additional capital from the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency.

The company got started in 2007 as a spin-off of the Laboratory for Threat Material Detection at the University of New Brunswick.  The company has since transformed the technology from proof-of-concept experiments to a portable commercial unit that is now being used by industrial clients.

“To see first-hand the company’s progress from R&D to a finished product on the market has been very rewarding,” says Calvin Milbury, President and CEO of NBIF, “It was a logical step for NBIF and TVC to put up the necessary capital to fund the next phase of the company’s growth.”

Inversa manufactures inspection equipment that allows engineers to see inside large industrial objects without taking them apart, and industrial systems without being shut down. What makes it unique is its size and portability, and the ability to create images by scanning only one side of the object. This has given clients a new way to examine infrastructure in operation.

“We continue to be impressed with the company’s ability to get in front of the customer and use their feedback to improve the product to suit their use,” says Susan Hicks, President and CEO of TVC, “It’s their market focus that made us see the company as a promising growth opportunity for us.”

Inversa is currently working with the Canadian Department of National Defence at CFB Gagetown to examine the structural integrity of culverts throughout the base, has done past work with the New Brunswick Department of Transportation and is currently working with other clients in Ontario to examine similar structures.

“The investment by NBIF and TVC comes at a critical point in our expansion,” says Inversa President John Bowles, “it gives us the resources we need to keep up with our customers and refine our product so it can be used for as many applications as possible.”

This investment will allow Inversa to meet the conditions of its $2.1 million Atlantic Innovation Fund award, announced by the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency in March 2011.