IMICROQ SL

Their core work

IMICROQ is a Spanish technology SME that develops automated platforms for detecting dangerous foodborne pathogens — specifically Salmonella, Listeria, and Staphylococcus — using immunoassay and PCR/DNA-based methods. Their systems are designed to integrate with quality assurance workflows, providing traceable results that meet regulatory and industrial food safety requirements. They have built and validated a commercial-grade testing platform (QSEIF) that combines pathogen detection, DNA analysis, and immunological testing in a single system. Their end customers are food producers, testing laboratories, and quality control departments that need fast, reliable, and audit-ready contamination screening.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

IMICROQ's trajectory follows a classic SME Instrument path: a Phase 1 feasibility project in 2014 (QFast2, €50K) validated the concept of a fast, multi-target pathogen detection platform with traceability built in — but that project carried no keywords beyond the title, suggesting it was early-stage and exploratory. By 2019, with QSEIF (€1.18M, Phase 2), the company had matured its technology substantially, as shown by the dense keyword cluster covering immunoassay, PCR, DNA, specific pathogen families, food safety, and health applications. The shift from a broad concept to a named, multi-method commercial platform indicates the technology was successfully de-risked and is now in or near market deployment.

IMICROQ is on a commercialisation trajectory — having completed a €1.18M Phase 2 SME Instrument project by 2021, they are likely focused on market entry and sales rather than further research, making them a strong candidate for technology licensing or industry pilot partnerships rather than new R&D consortia.

How they like to work

IMICROQ has acted as coordinator on both of their H2020 projects and shows no listed consortium partners in the data, which is consistent with the SME Instrument scheme — a programme designed for single companies or very small teams to develop and commercialise their own technology. This means they are not experienced in managing large multi-partner consortia, but they are skilled at driving their own R&D agenda and delivering to EU programme milestones. Potential partners should expect to work with a focused, commercially-minded team that knows their technology deeply but may not have the consortium management infrastructure of a larger organisation.

The available data shows no recorded consortium partners and no cross-country collaborations, which is expected for a company that exclusively used the single-beneficiary SME Instrument. Their network is likely built through industry contacts, food sector clients, and testing laboratories rather than through formal research consortia.

What sets them apart

IMICROQ occupies a specific niche at the intersection of food safety diagnostics and quality assurance traceability — they are not a general biotech firm but a company that has built a single integrated platform addressing multiple detection methods (immunoassay + PCR/DNA) for the pathogens that cause the most costly food safety incidents in Europe. Their SME Instrument Phase 2 success signals that external evaluators found their technology credible and commercially viable. For a consortium looking to add a food safety diagnostics technology provider from southern Europe with a validated platform, IMICROQ is a precise fit.

Highlights from their portfolio

• QSEIF
  The flagship project — a €1.18M SME Instrument Phase 2 award, one of the most competitive EU SME funding lines, validating IMICROQ's platform as commercially ready and scientifically credible.
• QFast2
  The proof-of-concept origin project (2014) that established the traceability-within-QA-system concept and secured IMICROQ's first EU funding, directly enabling the later Phase 2 scale-up.