Serving Science Since 1998

Company History and Milestones

Ionicon Analytik GmbH was founded on July 14, 1998 with one employee and the sale of one PTR-MS.
In 2008, we were celebrating our 10^th anniversary thanks to your ongoing trust and support...

	Before 1998 - First Steps In 1981, a SIFDT (Selected Ion Flow Drift Tube), the predecessor of PTR-MS, was constructed in the laboratories of the Institute of Ion Physics at the University of Innsbruck, Austria.
	In 1995, Prof. Werner Lindinger and coworkers at the Institute developed the first laboratory-style PTR-MS (Proton Transfer Reaction – Mass Spectrometer).
	1998 - IONICON was founded In 1998, several engaged scientists headed by Prof. Werner Lindinger and Prof. Tilmann Märk founded Ionicon Analytik GmbH with the purpose of making PTR-MS commercially available to the academic community.
	1999-2000 Soon three leading institutions realized the potential of PTR-MS and invested in this novel and unique technology in 1999. Only one year later the number of sales was doubled.
	2001 - Stroke of Fate The year 2001 was a dramatic turning point for the company: Prof. Werner Lindinger tragically died in an accident. Prof. Tilmann Märk stepped in to take over as CEO. In the same year, IONICON doubled its sales again and provided more than 10 instruments to scientists sharing Prof. Lindinger’s vision.
	2002 - Web Relaunch From the first days onwards IONICON was present in the internet. In 2002 the Homepage was completely remade and since this release customers have the possibility to login to a dedicated support area. A first corporate design was implemented at the same time.
	2003 - New Products Success and feedback from customers triggered the development of the first edition of a High-Sensitivity PTR-MS instrument and the Compact PTR-MS. With the first High-Sensitivity PTR-MS instruments, atmospheric online VOC detection in the low-level pptv-range was made possible. IONICON together with the Institute of Ion Physics launched the successful international PTR-MS Conference series.
	2004 - IONIMED was founded Ionimed Analytik GmbH was founded as a subsidiary company to focus on PTR-MS applications in medical and biotechnological research. In 2004, IONICON sold more than 15 instruments and had its strongest year so far. Together with IONIMED, the company moved to a new and larger office building at the technical campus of the University of Innsbruck.
	2005 - 3^rd Generation PTR-MS We call it 3^rd Generation - the third evolution of PTR-MS instruments, being the second developing stage of our High-Sensitivity PTR-MS, was launched. Fully software-controlled, improved overall performance and other major developments such as an online detection down to 5 pptv make this system the top-selling PTR-MS.
	2006 - We changed our Face With a new corporate design, new brochures, a new website featuring easily accessible information as well as more online support and a dedicated mission committed to our customers, our very successful spin-off company now presents itself in a new and professional manner.
	2007 - Diversification and Success The first PTR-TOF-MS was launched and an industrial VOC monitoring solution was sold. For the first time ever we sold more than 20 instruments in a year, increased our staff to 10 full-time employees.
	2008 - 10^th Anniversary The year was dedicated to celebrate but also to innovate: we were able to provide key research facilities all over the world with our new HRS PTR-TOF-MS instruments, a revolution in online mass spectrometry.
	2009 - Breaking the Record In 2009 we launched SRI (Switchable Reagent Ions) very successfully, reached for the first time ever a sub-pptv detection limit (ppqv-range) with an off-the-shelve PTR-MS instrument and invested in our product portfolio presenting a very attractive second PTR-TOFMS series instrument to the market.
	2010 - A new headquarter and a new instrument Our growth over the last decade came with a downside: we literally needed to share desks and our office space with instruments. At the beginning of 2010 IONICON and IONIMED moved to a new location where we occupy more than double the space which helped us developing the new PTR-QMS 300 industrial VOC monitoring system and once again having our best year ever.
	2011 - A new generation of ultra-sensitive PTR-MS instruments and a new company We launched the 4^th generation of our PTR-MS evolution succeeding the world's bestselling PTR-MS series. The PTR-QMS 500 series is now the benchmark for ultra low detection limits in quadrupole based PTR-MS systems. In 2011 we also founded our US subsidiary: IONICON US, Inc. with the objective to improve customer service and our sales efforts in North America.