Visualant ChromaID Wins Photonics Award

Recognized for its patented ChromaID technology, Visualant wins the Green Photonics category of the 2013 Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation

Visualant, Inc. an industry-leading provider of chromatic-based identification and diagnostic solutions with its ChromaID technology, announced recently that it won the prestigious Prism Award at the SPIE Photonics West show, which just concluded in San Francisco, California. The award for the Green Photonics category honors solutions that generate or conserve energy, cut emissions, reduce pollution, and yield sustainable outputs.

Ron Erickson, Visualant Founder and CEO commented, “We are honored to win the Prism Award and wish to thank SPIE for this recognition and for their efforts in building a collaborative environment to promote the photonics industry. As the Fortune 500 increasingly looks at their core business through a sustainability lens, Visualant is well poised to help them focus on their bottom line. Indeed, Deloitte reports 49% of CFOs see sustainability as a key driver of future financial performance."

This award honoring Visualant for its capacity to deliver sustainable solutions comes after a global study from consultancy BCG and MIT Sloan Management Review that found the number of companies achieving a profit from introducing changes aimed at making their business more sustainable rose 23 percent last year, to 37 percent of the total. Nearly half of the 2,600 companies surveyed for the global study have changed their business models to try to make the most of sustainability opportunities—a 20 percent jump over last year.

One sector of interest for Visualant is the cosmetic industry since consumer demand for natural, bio-friendly products has increased by 13.9 percent last year, Kline research reports. That means that chemical companies are being asked by cosmetic companies to develop relevant products that satisfy this market demand. Visualant’s ChromaID technology could then be used in the manufacturing process to ensure that all cosmetic products created meet a certain sustainable, green standard.

SPIE, The Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers, formed in 1955 as a not-for-profit organization to advance light-based technologies. SPIE holds the major global photonics conference, Photonics West, each year where companies, researchers and investors meet to discuss the latest advances in photonics.

The Prism Awards for Photonics Innovation is a leading international competition honoring the best new photonic products on the market. Considered as the "Photonics Oscar", the Prism Awards honors companies and their innovations in nine categories from Scientific Lasers to Defense and Security. Since 2008, the Prism Awards has received applications from more than 35 countries across the globe. A panel of leading industry experts, venture capitalists, luminaries and visionaries judge these applications to determine the winners in each category.

About Visualant, Inc.
Visualant is a public company whose shares trade under the stock symbol, VSUL. The Visualant Spectral Pattern Matching technology directs structured light onto a substance, through a liquid/gas, or off a surface, to capture a unique ChromaID. When matched against existing databases, a ChromaID can be used to identify, detect, or diagnosis markers invisible to the human eye. ChromaID scanner modules can be integrated into a variety of mobile or fixed-mount form factors. The patented technology is disruptive, making it possible to effectively conduct analyses in the field that could only previously be performed by large and expensive lab–based tests.

Visualant entered into a one year Joint Development Agreement on May 31, 2012 with Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd. ("SPP"), which focuses on the commercialization of the SPM technology and a License Agreement providing SPP with an exclusive license of the SPM technology in identified Asian territories. For more information, visit http://www.visualant.net.

Sumitomo Precision Products Co., Ltd. i has operations in Japan, United States, China, United Kingdom, Canada, and other parts of the world. Additional information on SPP is available at http://www.spp.co.jp/English/index2-e.html.