Rekha Jonnala’s Startup, PRIJYM, Is Transforming Lab Ops With A Unified Compliance Platform

Laboratory information management systems, or LIMS, are used across regulated industries to record results, certify analyses, and track batches from production onwards. This kind of software has been around for decades, but it’s a sector dominated almost entirely by US providers. Having led quality control teams in labs at Eurofins and AbbVie, Rekha Jonnala decided to bring an Irish competitor into this cautious market.

After finishing her PhD in Food Science from University College Cork, Rekha decided to move away from food and into pharma, curious to see how an even more tightly regulated industry worked. She landed her first job at Eurofins, the global life sciences laboratories group, as a Scientific Analyst, and was promoted to team leader within a year.

Rekha Jonnala

Working her way up the career ladder in the quality control department, Rekha started noticing the gaps that would eventually become PRIJYM. She decided to design an application that would plug these inefficiencies, leaving her job at AbbVie to become a first-time founder in 2025.

As entrepreneurship was a brand-new area for her, Rekha started researching the funding options available and best paths to startup. “I didn’t have any previous experience, but I knew I could develop the right solution given my background. I took a Start Your Own Business (SYOB) course with the Local Enterprise Office, and that gave me so much confidence. It was actually my instructor there who suggested I apply to New Frontiers.”

On Phase 2 of New Frontiers, Rekha learnt more about the entrepreneurial aspects of running a startup, like financial management, budgeting, and sales. She balanced the development of the business with learning the founder skills she would need. “I learned so much. I wouldn’t say that I know everything about running a startup, but I know how to navigate this journey now and what the pitfalls are.” She successfully completed both Phase 2 and Phase 3 of the programme in Cork.

Rekha estimates that up to 80% of companies in the pharma and food sectors still run separate systems for separate jobs in the lab – inventory, instruments, documentation, quality management, electronic lab notebooks, etc. It’s expensive, and none of these systems talk to each other. That fragmentation means duplicated work, a higher risk of human error, more downtime, and lost productivity.

PRIJYM consolidates these different areas into a single application. “We streamline the whole workflow of a lab, all those areas they currently have separate systems for. Everything can be managed within one place, and this should result in a 50% reduction in downtime and a 50% reduction in documentation time. This will be a huge win for labs, as their productivity will double,” she says.

Version 1 of the app, launched in March 2026, covers three modules: batch management, instrument management, and inventory management. Quality management, electronic lab notebooks, and document management are being built for Version 2, due by the end of the year, which will bring the full lab workflow under one roof.

With Version 1 live, Rekha has been speaking to prospective customers in food testing, contract testing, and agronomic testing labs – sectors she sees as natural adjacent markets to the ones the company already serves, given how easily the platform could extend into areas like soil and cosmetics testing. The plan is to use pilot feedback to shape the product before a fuller rollout.

Rekha’s biggest challenge to date has been sales, especially because this is a sector that doesn’t take risks unnecessarily and the company is still a relative unknown. “I didn’t think that sales could be this tough, but it is! I learnt that you can’t just go in and sell; when I meet with people for the first time, it’s all about listening to their pain points, not about explaining what I’ve built. When I understand their pain points, I can show them how the application could help. You can’t force people to buy; just take it one step at a time.”

There are currently four people on the PRIJYM team. Rekha handles everything outside of development, like sales, marketing, and budgeting, while remaining closely involved in product decisions. Three developers round out the technical team – covering backend and frontend development. The company also collaborates with Nimbus Research Centre, which specialises in digital innovation and transformation.

Rekha moved quickly from her first research of the startup ecosystem to the launch of her MVP. “It felt like a smooth curve, with just the right amount of velocity. I planned ahead and took very careful steps. A lot of people told me it would be really hard to launch a technical product within months. But because of the technical team, it all fell into place.”

The company is starting pilots with three companies, after which Rekha plans to apply for Enterprise Ireland’s Pre-Seed Start Fund (PSSF) and then potentially follow that with angel funding. Hiring a sales representative with a track record and established relationships in the sector will help PRIJYM establish itself in her three initial markets: Ireland, the UK, and the rest of Europe.

Rekha completed Phases 2 and 3 of New Frontiers in Cork, where our Programme Manager is Aoife McInerney. Learn more about her company at prijym.ie.