Web site is matchmaker for big, small companies. (Succeeding in Small Business).(yet2.com)(Brief Article)

Frank Jaksch, CEO of ChromaDex Inc., saved his small Laguna Hills, Calif.-based company hundreds of thousands of dollars and months of research by searching online for a test that detects minute amounts of bacteria in food and nutritional supplements.

His licensing deal for an affordable toxicity screen came with an added bonus: The big German drug company he licensed the technology from took a 10 percent stake in his company and asked for a seat on ChromaDex's board of directors.

"One of the ways to develop new products is to find out what other people have done rather than creating things on your own," Jaksch says.

The 12-employee company sells high-purity chemicals isolated from plants to makers of supplements and vitamins. Screening for bacterial contamination is important to maintaining the safety of products produced using the raw materials derived from plants and flowers.

Last year, Jaksch found …