Media Center

What Media Center does

Shanghai Manson Biotechnology Co., Ltd. (Media Center, 上海曼森生物科技有限公司) is a privately held Chinese laboratory-equipment manufacturer founded in 2017 by a technical team from the Chinese Academy of Sciences Shanghai Institute of Life Sciences and East China University of Science and Technology. The company develops and sells high-throughput parallel bioreactors, fully automatic online samplers, microbial-workflow automation, and AI-enabled Design-of-Experiments (DOE) instruments to customers in synthetic biology, biopharmaceutical, food, and microbial-testing industries across China, with named users including Haitiantian Industry (海天味业), Yihai Kerry (益海嘉里), Yaoming Biology (药明生物), Wahaha (娃哈哈), and Jiangsu Weikang Biology (江苏维康生物). The company's technology stack centers on a proprietary AFDP FPGA-based parallel bioreactor control mainboard coupled with the 'Zhizhi' (智之) intelligent control and analysis software, supporting up to 24 controller units (96 bioreactors) operated from a single interface and compress a full year of conventional fermentation workflow into approximately one week on the high-throughput platform. The JOY series product line — JOY1 (single-tank) and JOY4 (four-tank) configurations spanning 500 mL to 10 L working volumes — is complemented by the JOY-Flow-04 four-channel online sampler, the MSMJ-001A offline pulsating-vacuum sterilization cart, the MS-AT8R microplate shaking incubator, a layered robotic automation stack (LabRob-FX/D/SR liquid-handling, dilution, and streaking robots plus the MDD-80 four-channel plate dispenser), and the 2025-launched 8-channel DOE Intelligent Formula Instrument with embedded AI for automated ANOVA, regression modeling, parameter prediction, and report generation.

Media Center earns revenue primarily through per-deal quote-based hardware and integrated-solution sales, with transaction sizes ranging from RMB 300,000–500,000 minimum single-vessel entry points to RMB 20 million+ for full high-throughput fermentation platforms and an average customer deal of approximately RMB 2 million. Beyond discrete unit sales, the company designs and delivers complete high-throughput fermentation laboratories as engineering projects, and offers process-development services as a sales enabler (currently free of charge) with potential evolution toward a CDMO-style or process-development fee model. Distribution combines a direct Shanghai-based sales team with a build-out '诚招代理' agency/distributor channel, complemented by recurring attach revenue from standardized disposable reagent consumables and the proprietary Zhizhi software. As of 2018 the company had ~16 employees (almost all R&D); 2025 recruitment activity indicates ongoing expansion of sales, mechanical R&D, and software engineering teams across Shanghai and Haiyan (Jiaxing, Zhejiang), where a second intelligent laboratory innovation center is located. The company completed a Series A round in July 2023 (tens of millions of RMB) led solely by Nanjing Gaoke Xinjun Chuangxin Equity Investment Partnership, holds National High-tech Enterprise certification, and has accumulated 49 patent applications (20 invention patents, 36 granted) and 18 software copyrights.

Name

Media Center

Legal name

上海曼森生物科技有限公司

Website

https://mc-bio.cn

Company type

Private

Founded year

2017

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Media Center (Shanghai Manson Biotechnology / 上海曼森生物科技) is a Chinese manufacturer of high-throughput parallel bioreactors, laboratory automation systems, and AI-enabled DOE instruments. Its JOY bioreactor platform uses proprietary AFDP FPGA-based control with the Zhizhi software stack, serving synthetic biology, biopharmaceutical, and food-industry customers across China.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Laboratory Bioprocessing Equipment

NAICS

Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Industrial and Commercial Fan and Blower and Air Purification Equipment Manufacturing (333413), Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables (334513)

SIC

Laboratory Apparatus & Furniture (3821), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Industrial & Commercial Fans & Blowers & Air Purifing Equip (3564)

akta.pro primary industry

Cell Culture & Bioprocess Lab Equipment (Bioreactors, Single-Use Systems, Controllers) (HLAGAIAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Liquid Handling & Laboratory Automation (Pipettes, Robots, Workstations) (HLAGAIAD), Automation, Controls & Manufacturing Execution for Bioprocessing (SCADA/DCS/PLC/MES) (HLAAAJAE), General Lab Equipment (Centrifuges, Incubators, Shakers, Ovens) (HLAGAIAC)

Keywords

• Parallel bioreactors
• Laboratory automation
• Bioprocess equipment
• High-throughput fermentation
• Microbiology screening

Headquarters

HQ city

Xuhui

HQ country

China

HQ region

Asia

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Equipment sales (parallel bioreactors and laboratory automation): Primary revenue stream from selling JOY series parallel bioreactors, automatic samplers, liquid-handling robots, plate dispensers, microbial detection workstations, and DOE Intelligent Formulation Instruments. Pricing is per-unit / per-system with deal sizes quoted from RMB 300,000–500,000 minimum up to RMB 20 million+ for full high-throughput fermentation platforms.
2. Integrated laboratory solutions and engineering delivery: Beyond selling individual devices, the company designs and delivers complete high-throughput fermentation labs as engineering projects; in some cases the company provides process-development services (currently offered free of charge as a sales enabler), with potential future evolution toward a CDMO-style or process-development fee model.
3. Agency / distribution partnerships: Recruitment of enterprise agents/distributors across China to resell standard products and solutions, expanding reach beyond the direct sales team; this channel is in build-out phase via the dedicated "诚招代理" program.
4. One-time hardware license plus complementary consumables and software: Sales of standardized disposable reagent consumables ("即用型试剂耗材") and proprietary software systems accompany the equipment sale, providing a recurring attach-revenue component alongside the one-time hardware license.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Core offering

Media Center (Shanghai Manson Biotechnology Co., Ltd., 上海曼森生物科技有限公司) designs, manufactures, and sells the JOY series of AFDP-controlled parallel bioreactors (500 mL–10 L, up to 96 reactors in parallel) together with the proprietary Zhizhi (智之) unified intelligent control and analysis software, complemented by the JOY-Flow-04 fully automatic online sampler, MSMJ-001A offline sterilization system, MS-AT8R microplate shaking incubator, DOE Intelligent Formula Instrument (DOE智能配方仪), and a portfolio of laboratory automation robots (LabRob-FX/D/SR, MDD-80, microbial inspection robot, anaerobic incubator, colony counter) for synthetic biology, bioprocess development, and microbial testing laboratories.

Product overview

Media Center (Shanghai Manson Biotechnology Co., Ltd.) offers a unified 'BT+IT+AT' platform centered on its JOY series of AFDP-controlled parallel bioreactors (JOY1 single-tank and JOY4 four-tank variants spanning 500 ml to 10 L working volumes, scalable up to 96 reactors in parallel), complemented by an ecosystem of supporting hardware and software. The platform is anchored by the JOY parallel bioreactors and the 'Zhizhi' (智之) intelligent control and analysis software, and is extended by the JOY-Flow-04 fully automatic online sampler, MSMJ-001A offline sterilization system, MS-AT8R microplate shaking incubator, and the new DOE Intelligent Formula Instrument (DOE智能配方仪). Around the bioreactor core, the company offers a layered robotic automation stack — LabRob-FX liquid handling robots, LabRob-D dilution robots, LabRob-SR colony coating/streaking robots, and the MDD-80 four-channel plate dispenser — together with microbiology-workflow modules (microbial inspection robot, automated anaerobic incubator, automated colony counter) that together deliver turnkey high-throughput automated strain screening, fermentation process development, and probiotic activity testing platforms. The offering is therefore a platform-plus-modules architecture: the JOY bioreactors + Zhizhi software form the control core, while the DOE Intelligent Formula Instrument, online sampler, sterilization cart, incubator, and robotic modules are interoperable extensions used individually or combined into end-to-end solutions.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• JOY Series Parallel Bioreactors: 曼森生物's flagship product line of parallel bioreactors (JOY1 and JOY4 series) covering volumes from 500ml to 10L, including JOY1-500, JOY1-1000, JOY1-1500, JOY1-3000/10000, JOY1-5000, JOY4-500, JOY4-1000, with proprietary AFDP mainboard control technology and '智之' (Zhi Zhi) intelligent control software.
• JOY-Flow-04
• DOE Smart Formulation Instrument (DOE智能配方仪)
• MS-AT8R High-throughput Microplate Shaking Incubator (高通量微孔板振荡培养箱)

Products and services

• JOY Series Parallel Bioreactors (平行生物反应器) High-throughput parallel bioreactor platform (AFDP mainboard-controlled) spanning single-tank (JOY1) and four-tank (JOY4) configurations across working volumes from 500 mL to 10 L. Supports pH (2–12 ±0.02), DO (0–150% ±0.1%), temperature, agitation, multi-channel feed (Watson-marlow 114/400A pumps), and exhaust gas analysis (O2/CO2 with derived OUR/CER/RQ). Supports up to 96 reactors in parallel for high-throughput strain screening, media optimization, process development, and scale-up for microorganisms, animal cells, plant cells, enzymes, and cell-free systems.
• JOY-Flow-04 Fully Automatic Online Sampler (全自动在线取样器) Four-channel simultaneous online sampler that connects to various bioreactors and performs contamination-free automatic sampling with low-temperature refrigerated sample retention. Enables unattended operation through automatic line sterilization and automatic sample retention, with configurable sampling volume and frequency.
• MSMJ-001A Offline Sterilization System (Pulsating Vacuum Sterilization Cabinet Transfer Cart) Offline (离位) sterilization cabinet with pulsating vacuum and transfer cart for fermenter vessels. Enables synchronized sterilization of multiple fermenters offline to address sterilization parity in high-throughput fermentation workflows.
• MS-AT8R High-Throughput Microplate Shaking Incubator (高通量微孔板振荡培养箱) Stackable (up to 3 units) high-throughput microplate shaking incubator with orbital/reciprocal oscillation switching, 7-inch color touch screen, single-axis balanced drive technology, 304 stainless steel interior with mirror-finish rounded corners, intelligent audio/visual alarms, encrypted parameter locking, parameter memory, frequency-conversion motor, over-temperature alarm, power-recovery auto-resume, and soft-start acceleration control.
• DOE Intelligent Formula Instrument (DOE智能配方仪) 8-channel automated formula preparation instrument for Design of Experiments (DOE) in bioprocess research. Supports up to 7-factor experiments with built-in full factorial, fractional factorial and response surface methods; auto-computes solution volumes, auto-dispenses through 8 simultaneous channels (≥350 ml/min, <0.5% error), and features QR-coded containers for anti-error recipe binding. Integrated AI function provides automatic ANOVA analysis, regression modeling, parameter prediction, key interaction identification, automatic next-step experiment recommendations, and one-click PDF/Excel report generation.
• Zhizhi (智之) Intelligent Control & Analysis Software Unified control and analytics software for the JOY parallel bioreactor platform. Enables a single computer to control multiple same-model or different-model/different-volume bioreactors; supports one-key parameter setting across all reactors, one-key calibration of pH/DO/feed pumps, multi-parameter overlay on a single axis chart (unlimited parameters), cascade DO control with feed linkage, remote control over network, time-share (programmed profile) control, intelligent alarm system (hardware/operational/process/sensor), and full-process traceability for distributed/cloud data sharing.
• LabRob-FX Liquid Handling Robot Series Collaborative robot-based liquid handling/dispensing system available in three variants: LabRob-FXI (basic), LabRob-FXII (with purification hood and built-in UV lamp), and LabRob-FXIII (integrated clean bench). Automatically dispenses liquids into test tubes, Erlenmeyer flasks, reagent bottles, culture bottles, blue-cap bottles, beakers, Petri dishes, microplates and other containers. Suited for food/pharmaceutical microbial isolation and enumeration, environmental microbial isolation and purification, industrial microbial isolation and screening, pathogenic microbial isolation and identification, plate replication, antibody experiments, cell/tissue culture, and nucleic acid testing.
• LabRob-D Dilution Robot Series Robotic gradient dilution, replication, and re-array system for test tubes and microplates, available in basic, clean (UV-equipped), and sterile (with clean bench) variants. Features blow-aspirate mixing and ensures high-concentration tips do not enter low-concentration tubes/wells during pipetting.
• LabRob-SR Colony Streaking/Coating Robot Automatically grasps and transports Petri dishes, opens lids, aspirates liquid samples from test tubes, performs automatic streaking/coating with adjustable blow-aspirate cycles, supports continuous repeated streaking/coating.
• MDD-80 Four-Channel Plate Dispenser Four-channel microplate/Petri dish media dispenser that can dispense up to four different media simultaneously with independently configurable volumes per channel. Supports reciprocal oscillation for full plate coverage, dual-layer plate dispensing for antibiotic/vitamin/enzyme assays, and multiple sterility safeguards (protected dispensing nozzle, built-in UV lamp, external protective hood).
• Microbial Inspection Robot (Automated Microbiology Inspection Workstation) Automates the full microbiology inspection workflow — buffer dispensing into test tubes, 10-fold serial dilution between tubes, transfer of diluent from tube to Petri dish, pouring of culture medium into dishes, and oscillation/mixing — producing high-quality pour-plate samples for downstream incubation.
• Automated Anaerobic Incubator Automatically generates nitrogen and, via oxygen sensor monitoring, displaces air from the chamber to maintain a strictly anaerobic sterile environment. Compatible Petri dish racks integrate with the automated plate dispenser, microbial inspection robot, and colony counter for end-to-end microbiology automation.
• Automated Colony Counter Reads Petri dish racks produced upstream, continuously detects colony counts on each dish, and uses front-end barcodes to compute microbial content for specific samples. Forms a complete microbial laboratory automation chain together with the inspection robot and anaerobic incubator.
• High-Throughput Automated Strain Screening Platform Built on the JOY parallel bioreactors and laboratory robots, this platform targets end-to-end automation and throughput matching for strain screening rather than isolated high-throughput unit operations. Applicable to bacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi, with strong cost-performance and significant efficiency improvements.
• High-Throughput Automated Fermentation Process Development Platform Addresses high-throughput-mode challenges including automated media dispensing, sterilization synchronization, sampling parallelism, sample processing and analytical detection automation, and online conversion of offline data. The JOY parallel bioreactors form the core, with matched automation peripherals.
• High-Throughput Automated Probiotic Activity Testing Platform Addresses the sample pretreatment bottlenecks in probiotic activity testing (dispensing, dilution, plate pouring) and Chinese national standard constraints (sample processing within 15 minutes), improving test reproducibility, reducing repeat assays, and limiting secondary contamination.
• Full-Workflow Intelligent Microbial Sample Testing Solution End-to-end solution for microbial sample isolation, culture, identification, and preservation in food, drug, cosmetic, agricultural product, environmental, and clinical microbiology testing. Combines the company's robotic and dispensing products into an integrated workflow.

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability7 records

Feature6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Sartorius AG: Global leader in bioprocess equipment, including the ambr parallel bioreactor system that directly competes with Manson's JOY platform. Highly relevant as the dominant incumbent in the same product category for microbial and cell-culture process development.
• Cytiva (Danaher): Large bioprocess equipment and consumables supplier (formerly GE Healthcare Life Sciences) offering Xuri cell expansion systems and broader bioprocess workflow tools. Overlaps with Manson's process-development platform at larger biopharma accounts.
• Beckman Coulter Life Sciences (Danaher): Supplies liquid handling robotics, automation, and bioprocess analytical instruments that compete with Manson's LabRob and microbial inspection workstations in shared lab-automation workflows.
• Tecan Group: Established lab automation and liquid-handling OEM whose Freedom EVO and Fluent platforms overlap with Manson's robotic workstations, plate dispensers, and integrated microbiology workflow.

Direct peers

• Eppendorf SE: Manufacturer of the DASbox and BioFlo parallel bioreactor families that compete head-to-head with the JOY series in high-throughput microbial and cell-culture fermentation R&D. Overlapping customer base in biopharma and academic labs.
• Infors HT: Swiss bioreactor and bioprocess software specialist offering the Multifors and Minifors parallel reactor lines plus eve bioprocess platform software. Directly comparable in target use case (strain screening, process optimization) and customer segment.
• Applikon Biotechnology (Getinge): Specialist bioreactor manufacturer (now part of Getinge) offering parallel stirred-tank bioreactors for process development. Closely comparable product category, target customer (bioprocess R&D labs), and use cases to Manson's JOY offering.

Emerging players

• Bota Biosciences: Chinese synthetic biology company building a bio-foundry platform; functions as a potential customer and technology neighbor for high-throughput parallel bioreactor suppliers like Manson targeting the China synbio infrastructure build-out.
• Hamilton Company: Manufacturer of laboratory automation platforms including the Microlab STAR and automated sample-handling systems. Comparable to Manson's LabRob liquid-handling and DOE dispensing instruments in the high-throughput biology lab.

Regional players

• Shanghai Tofflon Science and Technology (东富龙): Leading Chinese biopharma equipment supplier offering bioreactors, sterilization systems, and filling lines. Comparable as a domestic Chinese equipment vendor addressing similar biopharma customers, though Tofflon is much larger and focused on production-scale systems.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubehaokan.baidu.com/author/1760484038175834

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Media Center