Lab accident spawns bright idea

"Fungal contamination in a microbiology lab is not something I'd be proud of, but it does happen," said Duncan Veal, then the head of the laboratory and now the Fluorotechnics chief executive.

The fluorescence of the spore was linked to a protein and it paved the way for researchers to discover a family of fluorescent molecules that cause certain proteins to become bright.

Fluorotechnics was spun out of the university, which still holds a 6% stake. The technology is applied to products used as tools by microbiologists such as diagnostics and quality control tests.

"We would not have sequenced the human genome if it weren't for fluorescent-based tools," Dr Veal said.

One key product is a plastic gel sheet that displays proteins and can be used by researchers to understand how proteins are linked to disease onset and progression.

The company said the sheet was a big improvement on existing quartz glass, because it did not require potentially dangerous heavy metals and was easier to transport and store.

The company is undertaking a $12 million initial public offering and is scheduled to list on the stock exchange on October 21. The company says it will use the cash to expand its production facilities, bolster its sales and marketing team and make an acquisition Dr Veal said he had in his sights.

The issue will bring the company's market capitalisation to $28 million, with management and directors holding just under half the existing stake.

The company says the global market for its products is about $2 billion, and only 2% of its sales are in Australia. The rest are split between Europe and America. The company has acquired Electrophorese-Technik in Germany and The Gel Company in the US.

The prospectus shows that in the second half of last year the company generated sales of $225,000 and hopes to have revenue of $7.5 million this financial year.

Although Dr Veal is a microbiologist, he said entrepreneurship was in his blood. "My father was a serial entrepreneur," he said. "I 'failed' after I became an academic."

The board includes former Coles Group chief executive John Fletcher and is chaired by Rick Taylor, a merger and acquisition tax specialist at Deloitte.