Incubated at Startup Leiria, NS2 grew out of 20 years of research that began with Gabriela's doctorate at Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, where she still teaches and runs her lab. Its NOxAqua system measures ammonia, nitrite and nitrate in real time and stays reliable despite water turbidity or salinity. Disposable test strips and portable readers allow testing in the field, with results digitized instantly to smart devices or existing control systems. In November 2024 the technology took third place in the "929 Challenge" technology competition in Macau.
These nutrients are toxic to fish and other aquatic life and drive eutrophication, so the applications span aquaculture, agriculture, the food industry and even disease biomarkers. Aware of Portugal's small market, the founders targeted Europe first, especially Scandinavia's land-based recirculating systems, which reuse more than 90% of their water. The largest prize is Asia, home to about 90% of world aquaculture, where China is the top exporter and second-largest importer of farmed fish. The Macau award accelerated those international ambitions.
Gabriela is candid about the gap: finishing products in development and building the capacity to scale both require financing. Public funding has carried the company so far, including the EEA Grants Blue Growth program and Women TechEU, which Marise
Almeida credits with opening EU coaching and mentoring networks. A €100,000 Portugal Ventures INNOV-ID award, applied for with Startup Leiria as ignition partner, arrived just as earlier projects were ending. With the FAO calling for more food production from scarcer resources, the article concludes that solutions like NS2's are not just innovation but the future.
