MASS

908 Devices Inc.

A maker of handheld chemical detectors, 908 Devices builds tools like the MX908 that soldiers, hazmat teams, and police use to spot explosives, drugs such as fentanyl, and dangerous chemicals on the spot. Founded in Boston in 2012, the company shrank lab-grade mass spectrometry into a pocket-sized device. Its odd name comes from 0.908, the point in a mass spectrometer where founders say "the magic happens"—a fitting symbol for finding answers in unstable moments.