Mekonos
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2017
- HeadquartersAlameda, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Mekonos does
Mekonos is a privately held biotech tools company founded in 2017 and headquartered in Alameda, California (Silicon Valley). It develops and commercializes Iris™, a proprietary system-on-a-chip platform that uses nano-needle technology to deliver payloads directly into cells, targeting pharmaceutical companies and research institutions working on cell therapies, gene therapies, and intracellular drug discovery. The platform is positioned as a more precise and less disruptive alternative to conventional intracellular delivery methods such as viral vectors, electroporation, and lipofection, with applications spanning ex vivo cell engineering and broader biotech research workflows.
The company's core technology centers on a semiconductor chip bearing arrays of nanoscale needles that physically interface with individual cells to deliver cargo, a method-architecture distinct from incumbent approaches. Its revenue model is described as one-time license/system sales of the Iris platform, and its go-to-market is enterprise field sales targeting biotech and pharmaceutical accounts. The company is venture-backed, having raised approximately $31 million cumulatively across seed, early, and Series A rounds between 2017 and 2021, with strategic investors including Novartis and Debiopharm Innovation Fund alongside deep-tech-focused capital such as TDK Ventures.
Mekonos operates with a team of 11–50 employees led by founder and CEO Anil Narasimha, with a leadership bench spanning operations (COO Benjamin Borgo), engineering (VP Mark Webb), business development (VP Jacob Lesnik), and chief of staff (Stefan Arteaga). The company has expanded its biotech industry partnerships in tandem with its Series A, signaling an intent to broaden its commercial footprint, though no named customer accounts or revenue figures have been disclosed.
Mekonos firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Mekonos
- Website
- https://mekonos.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2017
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Mekonos industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Cell Therapy Delivery Instruments
- NAICS
- Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Research and Development in Nanotechnology (541713)
- SIC
- Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Sensor Fusion, Interface ICs & Modules (AFE/Readout/Packaging/Calibration) (HDAHALAO)
Keywords
Where Mekonos is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Alameda
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Mekonos business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Biotech Platform/System Sales: Mekonos develops and commercializes its Iris system-on-a-chip platform for drug delivery applications in the biotech industry. The company raised Series A funding in 2021 indicating a pre-commercial or early commercial stage.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Mekonos product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Mekonos develops and commercializes the Iris™ platform, a system-on-a-chip that uses arrays of nano-needles to deliver therapeutic cargo directly into cells with single-cell precision. The platform targets pharmaceutical companies and research institutions working on cell therapies, gene editing, and intracellular drug delivery applications.
Product overview
Mekonos offers a single unified product called Iris™, a system-on-a-chip platform that enables precision drug delivery to cells through nano-needle technology. The platform is designed for pharmaceutical and biotech applications requiring targeted intracellular delivery.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Iris: System-on-a-chip platform for drug delivery to cells using nano-needles.
Products and services
- Iris™ System-on-a-Chip Platform A proprietary system-on-a-chip platform that uses arrays of nano-needles to deliver therapeutic cargo — including mRNA, CRISPR, proteins, and small molecules — directly into cells with single-cell precision. It is sold to biopharmaceutical companies and research institutions developing cell therapies, gene-editing programs, and intracellular drug-delivery workflows as an alternative to electroporation, viral vectors, and lipid nanoparticles.
Companies that use Mekonos
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Mekonos technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Mekonos partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Biotech Industry PartnerscoreMekonos expanded its partnerships across the biotech industries in 2021 following Series A funding. These partnerships focus on collaboration within the biotech sector for drug delivery applications using the Iris platform.
Scale indicators1 record
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights4 records
Mekonos competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- MaxCyte: MaxCyte provides electroporation-based cell transfection instruments and processing services used in cell and gene therapy manufacturing. It is the most directly comparable commercial-stage intracellular-delivery platform peer for Mekonos's Iris.
- Miltenyi Biotec: Miltenyi Biotec provides cell-processing instruments, reagents, and closed-system manufacturing solutions used in cell and gene therapy. It competes with Mekonos in intracellular and cell-engineering workflows for biotech and pharma research.
Broad incumbents
- Lonza: Lonza is a global CDMO and tools provider with cell-therapy manufacturing services and process-development platforms. It overlaps with Mekonos in serving pharma and biotech customers building cell-therapy workflows, but at much broader scale.
- Thermo Fisher Scientific: Thermo Fisher supplies a broad portfolio of cell-engineering instruments, reagents, and services through its bioscience and pharma services segments. It is a broad incumbent competing for the same biotech and pharma customers that Mekonos targets.
- Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD): BD's biosciences segment offers cell-sorting, cell-engineering, and discovery instrumentation used by pharma and biotech researchers. It overlaps with Mekonos's customer base and core cell-therapy workflows, but across a much broader product portfolio.
- Stemcell Technologies: Stemcell Technologies supplies cell-isolation, culture, and engineering tools to academic and biotech researchers. It is an adjacent incumbent serving overlapping pharma/biotech research customers with cell-handling products.
Emerging players
- NanoCellect Biomedical: NanoCellect develops microfluidic cell-sorting and analysis platforms for cell engineering. It is an emerging peer in cell-handling instrumentation with comparable biotech/pharma research customers, though focused on sorting rather than delivery.
- Celetrix: Celetrix provides electroporation-based transfection instruments for cell and gene therapy research. It is an emerging player competing for the same intracellular-delivery use case as Mekonos's Iris nano-needle platform.
- CytoPlex (Curiox Biosystems): Curiox develops microfluidic and nanofluidic cell-processing platforms used in cell therapy and immunology research. It is an emerging peer in miniaturized cell-handling instrumentation relevant to Mekonos's nano-needle SoC approach.
Others
- abcam: Abcam supplies research reagents, antibodies, and cell-engineering tools to pharma and academic researchers. It is an adjacent ecosystem participant whose customers overlap with Mekonos's biotech research buyer base.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Mekonos social profiles
Digital presenceMekonos financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Mekonos leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles5 records
Mekonos funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds5 records
Investors17 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Mekonos M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Mekonos
What does Mekonos do?
Mekonos develops and commercializes the Iris™ platform, a system-on-a-chip that uses arrays of nano-needles to deliver therapeutic cargo directly into cells with single-cell precision. The platform targets pharmaceutical companies and research institutions working on cell therapies, gene editing, and intracellular drug delivery applications.
Is Mekonos a public or private company?
Mekonos is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Mekonos founded?
Mekonos was founded in 2017. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Mekonos based?
Mekonos is headquartered in Alameda, United States, in the North America region.
How does Mekonos make money?
One revenue line is on record: biotech Platform/System Sales.
Who are Mekonos's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are MaxCyte and Miltenyi Biotec. Broad incumbents are Lonza, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD) and Stemcell Technologies. Emerging players are NanoCellect Biomedical, Celetrix and CytoPlex (Curiox Biosystems). abcam is listed as an others.
Does Mekonos have an API?
No public API is recorded for Mekonos.
What industry is Mekonos in?
Mekonos's product category is Cell Therapy Delivery Instruments. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HDAHALAO, Sensor Fusion, Interface ICs & Modules (AFE/Readout/Packaging/Calibration). Its NAICS code is 334516 and its SIC code is 3826.