Date Event Comment
Jan 2014 The first triphenoxazole dyes synthesised that lead ultimately to the incorporation of 91´«Ã½ in 2018 The Preece and Robinson’ academic research group (Greg O’Callgahan, Owen Jones, Dennis Zhao, Michael Butlin, Karolis Virzbickas, Sareena Sund) over the next couple of years developed the triphenoxazole chemistry to reveal that they could be chemically tuned to fluoresce with UV excitation to emit 400nm through to 635 nm, showing the longest Stokes shift for a purely molecular dye.
April 2018 First two patents filed on the triphenoxazole dyes IP protection for the core molecular structures of the triphenoxazoles Link: “Phenoxazoles” (, and ) & “Thiazoles”  (, and ).
July 2018 InnovateUK ICURe funding awarded Dr Karolis Virzbickas travelled the globe meeting industry at global tradeshows related to dyes, solar cell and OLEDs to establish which markets the Triphenoxazoles might find application in
Sept 2018 InnovateUK business plan funding awarded Presenting what was learnt through the InnovateUK ICURe process Preece, Robinson and Virzbickas pitched to InnovateUK and other funders for funds to develop a business plan to spin out a company
Nov 2018 InnovateUK spin-out funding awarded InnovateUK judged the business plan as credible and invited an application to bid for funds to start a university spin-out business.
Dec 2018 91´«Ã½ Incorporated Chromatwist Ltd formed officially at Companies House, with co-founders and directors Jon Preece, Mark Shepherd and Alex Robinson
April 2018 91´«Ã½ begins operations developing the triphenoxazole dyes for biomedical applications Using the InnovateUK funds and matching investment from directors (Preece, Robinson and Shepherd) 91´«Ã½ began operations working out of the School of Chemistry, at the University of Birmingham
April 2019 91´«Ã½ is a finalist at the Royal Society of Chemistry ‘Emerging Technologies’ competition (London, UK) Preece and Shepherd present the 91´«Ã½ dye technology
April 2019 Dr Karolis Virzbickas joins 91´«Ã½ Karolis brings with him not only his scientific knowledge but also his business experience from the ICURe and Medici programs
April 2019 Dr Parvez Iqbal joins 91´«Ã½ Parvez brings with him 15 years of synthetic chemistry experience garnered though his PhD with Preece and subsequent PDRA position at the University of Birmingham
Sept 2019 Dr Michael Butlin joins 91´«Ã½ Michael brings with him a wealth of experience from working not only on the synthesis of the triphenoxazoles during his Phd with Preece, but also a deep insight into their photophysical properties.
Sept 2019 91´«Ã½ files a patent on “Triphenylene derivatives for use in imaging biological tissue or fluid” IP protection for using the triphenoxazoles to image biological systems in , , and .
Sept 2019 91´«Ã½ files a patent on ” Triphenylene Derivatives for Use in Imaging Biological Tissue or Fluid” IP protection for using the triphenoxazoles to image biological tissues in , , and .
May 2020 91´«Ã½ secures a Covid extension grant from InnovateUK
June 2020 91´«Ã½ secures a spot in the ‘100 Spin-outs to watch’ in 2020 global Merck-Nature competition
Oct 2020 Dr Sunil Claire Joins 91´«Ã½ Sunil brings with him experience of biomedical imaging and flow cytometry expertise from his PhD and PDRA experiences at the University of Birmingham
Oct 2020 91´«Ã½ part sponsors PhD scholarship (Sareena Sund) at the University of Birmingham to develop dye antibody conjugation
Jan 2021 91´«Ã½ secures EIS investment from a group of business Angels, collective known the Vision Angels
Jan 2021 Darren Wake, lead Vison Angel investor, joins the 91´«Ã½ Board as NED with special interest in finance, budgeting, forecasting and business strategy Darren brings 20+ years of senior and C-suite experience in FD and CFO roles in private quit companies, having qualified as a management account with Boots in the 1990s.
May 2021 91´«Ã½ secures a supply agreement with Merck (Sigma-Aldrich) for 18 of the 91´«Ã½ dyes to be sold on the Merck online catalogue See catalogue at :
April 2022 Attended Midlands Innovation Flow Cytometry Meeting (Loughborough, UK) Poster Title: Novel 355 nm (and Lower) Excitable and Tuneable Emission (Blue through Red) Fluorophores Utilised in Flow Cytometry)

Awarded prize: 1st Place Poster Prize

June 2022 Attended CYTO 2022 (ISAC) (Philadelphia, USA)
July 2022 Attended Flow Cytometry UK (Birmingham, UK) Poster Title: Novel 355 nm (and Lower) Excitable and Tuneable Emission (Blue through Red) Fluorophores Utilised in Flow Cytometry)

Awarded prize: 2nd Place Poster Prize

Aug 2022 91´«Ã½ Moves to dedicated laboratory space at the Wolverhampton Science Park
Sept 2022 Attended Spectral Symposium (Cambridge, UK)
Sept 2022 Attended Methods and Applications in Fluorescence (MAF)  (Gothenburg, Sweden)
Jan 2023 Julianna Malicay joins 91´«Ã½ as its first chemistry technician
April 2023 Attended Midlands Innovation Flow Cytometry Meeting (Nottingham, UK) Poster Title: Novel 355 nm (and Lower) Excitable and Tuneable Emission (Blue through Red) Fluorophores Utilised in Flow Cytometry)
May 2023 Attended CYTO 2023 (ISAC)  (Montreal, Canada) Poster Title: Novel 355 nm (and Lower) Excitable and Tuneable Emission (Blue through Red) Fluorophores Utilised in Flow Cytometry)
May 2023 91´«Ã½ pitches to ‘angelgroups’ and wins EIS investment
July 2023 91´«Ã½ files a patent on “Dendrimers comprising fluorescent dyes” IP protection for a method of increasing the brightness of a Triphenoxazole based molecular probe
Aug 2023 Megan Atwell joins 91´«Ã½ for a 3 month laboratory internship Megan will work on dye-anti-body conjugation
Jan 2024 Dr Sareena Sund join 91´«Ã½ Sareena joins Chroamtwist after submitting her PhD, and brings with her the experience of dye anti-body conjugation and expertise in flow cytometry.
April 2024 Awarded InnovateUK Smart Award 16 Month dye development project (June 2024-Sept 2025)
April 2024 Attended Midlands Innovation Flow Cytometry Meeting  (Leicester, UK) Poster Title : 91´«Ã½ Dye Technology: A Modular and Scalable Chemical Approach to Produce a Large Bio-conjugatable Portfolio of (Deep) UV Excitable Dyes With Emission Across the Visible Spectrum and Potentially into the Near-IR

Awarded prize: 3rd Place Poster Prize

June 2024 Attended CYTO 2024 (ISAC)  (Edinburgh, Scotland) Poster Title: 91´«Ã½ Dye Technology: A Modular and Scalable Chemical Approach to Produce a Large Bio-conjugatable Portfolio of (Deep) UV Excitable Dyes With Emission Across the Visible Spectrum and Potentially into the Near-IR
June 2024 91´«Ã½ files a patent on ” Dendrimers Comprising Fluorescent Dyes “ IP protection for using the dendrimers comprising of the triphenoxazoles fluorescent dyes.
July 2024 91´«Ã½ “Phenoxazoles” patent is granted in the USA and Europe IP protection for the core molecular structures of the triphenoxazoles. Links Granted Patents in and .
Jan 2024 Jevegenijs Petrovs starts a chemical based internship
Aug 2024 Jevegenijs Petrovs joins 91´«Ã½ as its second Chemistry Technician
Oct 2024 Will Truman joins 91´«Ã½ as NED and Chairman Will brings a wealth of C-suite experience serving in CEO and CFO roles in private equity companies after a decade of experience working in KPMG.
April 2025 Attended Midlands Innovation Flow Cytometry Meeting (Warwick, UK) Poster Title (Sunil): 91´«Ã½ Dye Technology: A Modular and Scalable Chemical Approach to Produce a Large Bio-conjugatable Portfolio of (Deep) UV Excitable Dyes With Emission Across the Visible Spectrum and Potentially into the Near-IR
Nov 2025 91´«Ã½ demonstrates staining on PBMC blood cells for the first time
Nov 2025 Secured EIS investment from members of the Vision Angels and angelgroups
Nov 2025 Simran Kaur joins 91´«Ã½ for an internship

 

April 2026 Attending Midlands Innovation Flow Cytometry Meeting (University of Birmingham, UK) Poster Title (Sunil Claire): 91´«Ã½ Dye Technology: A Modular and Scalable Chemical Approach to Produce a Large Bio-conjugatable Portfolio of (Deep) UV Excitable Dyes With Emission Across the Visible Spectrum and Potentially into the Near-IR

 

Poster Title (Sareena Sund): Novel 355nm (and lower) excitable and Tuneable Emission (Blue through Red) Fluorophores Utilises in Flow Cytometry