SPT Labtech

What SPT Labtech does

SPT Labtech is a UK-headquartered laboratory automation specialist that designs, manufactures, and sells precision instruments, consumables, and recurring service contracts for life sciences research and drug discovery customers. The product portfolio is organized into three franchises: liquid handling (firefly all-in-one platform, mosquito nanolitre positive displacement pipetting with multiple variants, dragonfly non-contact dispensing, and the apricot range from DC1 to S3 and PP5), sample preparation (chameleon for cryo-EM grids and Quantifoil sample supports), and sample management (comPOUND, BioMicroLab instruments, arktic/arktic XC, lab2lab pneumatic transport, and comPACT). Underlying technology relies on proprietary true positive displacement pipetting with disposable pistons and EZ-Load elastomer sealing, enabling nanolitre-to-millilitre accuracy independent of liquid viscosity and removing the need for calibration.

Name

SPT Labtech

Legal name

SPT Labtech Ltd

Website

https://sptlabtech.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2001

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

251–500 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Laboratory Automation Instruments

NAICS

Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451), Instruments and Related Products Manufacturing for Measuring, Displaying, and Controlling Industrial Process Variables (334513)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Laboratory Apparatus & Furniture (3821), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)

akta.pro primary industry

Liquid Handling & Laboratory Automation (Pipettes, Robots, Workstations) (HLAGAIAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Laboratory Consumables & Plasticware (Tips, Tubes, Plates, Filters) (HLAGAIAH), Laboratory Automation, Sample Prep & Liquid Handling (IVD Lab Diagnostics) (HLAHAAAN)

Keywords

• Liquid handling automation
• Laboratory automation instruments
• Sample preparation systems
• Compound management solutions
• Genomic workflow automation

Headquarters

HQ city

Melbourn

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices12 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Laboratory automation instruments: Sale of liquid handling, sample preparation, and sample management instruments including firefly, mosquito, dragonfly, apricot product lines and accessories.
2. Consumables: Ongoing sales of consumables including pipette tips (EZ-load and AL tips), syringes for dragonfly, spools for mosquito, and other instrument-specific consumables through e-commerce store.
3. Service and support (reliance): Service packages providing technical support, maintenance, remote diagnostics, and instrument longevity coverage including guaranteed core replacement.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

SPT Labtech designs, manufactures, and sells laboratory automation instruments and consumables for life sciences research. The portfolio spans liquid handling platforms (firefly, mosquito, dragonfly, apricot), sample preparation systems (chameleon for cryo-EM, Quantifoil grids), and sample management solutions (comPOUND, arktic, lab2lab, comPACT, BioMicroLab), supplemented by the reliance service and support package.

Product overview

SPT Labtech offers a comprehensive portfolio of laboratory automation solutions organized into three core technology areas: liquid handling, sample preparation, and sample management. The liquid handling portfolio includes firefly (all-in-one compact system for NGS library preparation), mosquito (nanoliter positive displacement pipetting with multiple variants including Gen3, crystal, HV/LV genomics, X1, LCP), dragonfly (non-contact positive displacement dispensing from nanoliters to milliliters in discovery and crystal variants), and apricot (accessible automated pipetting with DC1 dual-core, S1, S3, and PP5 models). Sample preparation includes chameleon for cryo-EM grid preparation and Quantifoil sample supports. Sample management encompasses comPOUND (compound management), BioMicroLab instruments (acquired brand), arktic/arktic XC (biospecimen storage), lab2lab (pneumatic transport), and comPACT (-20°C storage). The company also provides reliance service packages for ongoing support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• firefly: Innovative all-in-one liquid handling platform for genomic research
• mosquito
• dragonfly
• apricot
• chameleon
• comPOUND
• arktic
• comPACT
• lab2lab
• BioMicroLab
• Quantifoil
• reliance

Products and services

• firefly All-in-one liquid handling platform that brings together multiple technologies within a single compact design for efficient NGS library preparation with walk-away automation for genomics workflows.
• firefly+ Enhanced firefly platform offering greater walk-away automation capabilities for genomic research workflows.
• mosquito Gen3 Innovative positive displacement pipetting solution combining miniaturization and automation to reduce costs, improve productivity, and maximize research output at nanoliter volumes.
• mosquito xtal3 Mosquito variant optimized for protein crystallography applications with high precision nanoliter pipetting.
• mosquito LCP Mosquito variant for lipidic cubic phase (LCP) crystallization applications.
• mosquito HV genomics High volume genomics variant for pipetting from 500nL to 5µL with highly accurate and precise multichannel pipetting.
• mosquito LV genomics Low volume genomics variant for nanoliter-scale liquid handling in genomics applications.
• mosquito X1 High speed low volume cherry picking system for rapid sample selection and transfer.
• mosquito HV High volume mosquito variant for broader volume range liquid handling applications.
• mosquito LV Low volume mosquito variant for nanoliter precision applications.
• mosquito crystal Protein crystallography drop setting instrument combining speed, accuracy, and high precision pipetting of nanolitre volumes with zero cross-contamination from disposable tips.
• dragonfly discovery Multi-channel non-contact dispensing system using positive displacement syringes that delivers accurate and repeatable nanoliter to milliliter dispensing irrespective of liquid viscosity or environmental conditions.
• dragonfly crystal Protein crystal optimization system using positive displacement pipetting for rapid and accurate preparation of complex crystallization gradients and optimization screens.
• apricot DC1 Dual-core pipetting technology combining the functionality of four pipette tools in one versatile and affordable platform with 9 flexible deck positions and automatic tip exchange.
• apricot S1 Flexible, versatile, and affordable 96 and 384 channel automated liquid handling system up to 12x faster than an 8-channel handheld pipettor, ideal for labs taking first steps toward automation.
• apricot S3 Flexible automated high performance liquid handling for 96 and 384 channel pipetting with interchangeable pipetting cores, equally suited to low or high-throughput use.
• apricot PP5 Multi-channel pipetting instrument combining functionality of several pipettors with 5 plate positions and 8/12/16/24/96/384 channel configurations for production and laboratory environments.
• chameleon Automated sample preparation system providing consistent application of samples to high-quality foil grids for cryo-EM analysis.
• Quantifoil Market-leading cryo-EM sample supports enabling cryo-EM researchers to optimize data quality.
• comPOUND Scalable, reliable, and secure compound management solution operating at -20°C, +4°C and ambient temperature for centralized compound storage.
• BioMicroLab Range of reliable, versatile and easy-to-use sample management automation instruments including XL9, XL20, XL100, XL200, LabelPro, VC100, VC384, Scan+, and Scan models.
• arktic Robust biospecimen collection, processing, storage, and tracking system for biospecimens down to -80°C to assure integrity of vital scientific research.
• arktic XC Extended capacity variant of arktic for larger biospecimen storage and management.
• lab2lab Novel pneumatic transport system for samples in 2D barcoded tubes enabling transfer between laboratories, storage systems, or online analyzers such as LC/MS or NMR.
• comPACT Flexible and secure -20°C storage solution in a smaller package enabling automated sample management for more labs.
• reliance Service and support package providing access to a dedicated support team, unlimited remote support, guaranteed incident response (12-hour SLA on core essentials), annual core replacement, and maintenance advice to safeguard instrument investment and productivity.
• fireflyGO Benchtop automation platform for library preparation jointly launched with Illumina, integrated with Illumina MiSeq i100 Series sequencers and Pillar Biosciences oncoReveal targeted oncology panels to reduce hands-on time and improve reproducibility in genomics workflows.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reduced hands-on time for library preparation workflows
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• IlluminaflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 28 May 2026Joint development of fireflyGO benchtop automation platform for library preparation integrated with Illumina MiSeq i100 sequencers and Pillar Biosciences oncoReveal targeted oncology panels. Strategic collaboration to address inefficiencies in genomic research preparation and enable faster, simpler targeted oncology research workflows.
• EMBL GeneCorecoreTechnology or Integration · 25 February 2026Collaboration to advance fully walkaway automation in genomics workflows, combining EMBL GeneCore expertise with SPT Labtech automation technology.
• BellBrook LabscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 February 2026Collaboration to develop high-throughput cell-based assay for VPS4B ATPase inhibitor discovery, successfully identified 13 novel inhibitors demonstrating potential in oncology drug discovery. Presented at SLAS 2026.
• New England BiolabscoreTechnology or Integration · 6 February 2026Collaboration to support automation of NEBNext reagents for NGS library preparation on SPT Labtech automated workstations. Develops standardized, transferrable, and scalable methods for global laboratory deployment. Partners include Hamilton, Revvity, Beckman Coulter, and Eppendorf.
• Pacific BiosciencescoreTechnology or Integration · 20 November 2025Collaboration to automate Kinnex RNA-seq library preparation kit using SPT Labtech's Firefly platform, enabling efficient automation of single-molecule real-time (SMRT) sequencing sample preparation.
• Alithea GenomicscoreTechnology or Integration · 5 November 2025Collaboration to develop automation solutions for ultra-sensitive single-cell transcriptomic workflows, enhancing efficiency in single-cell RNA-seq research applications.
• 10x GenomicscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 16 October 2025Partnership to provide automated workflows for single cell research, enabling scalability on 10x Genomics platforms through SPT Labtech's firefly liquid handling system. Demonstrated at ASHG conference.
• AgilentcoreTechnology or Integration · 12 October 2025Introduction of automated target enrichment protocols for genomic workflows, streamlining Agilent's SureSelect enrichment solutions on SPT Labtech automation platforms.
• Hamilton CompanyminorOthersListed as a key player in the global liquid handling technology market alongside SPT Labtech.
• RochecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership with Roche for development and validation of automated protocols for firefly platform in collaboration with leading reagent and kit manufacturers.
• SynthacecoreTechnology or IntegrationCollaboration for Design of Experiments (DoE) integration with dragonfly discovery, enabling robust assay development and optimization workflows for automated liquid handling.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Market position

Competitive moat5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/SPTLabtech
• YouTubeyoutube.com/sptlabtech
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sptlabtech

Compliance1 record

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&A3 records

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about SPT Labtech