What Translucence Biosystems does

Translucence Biosystems, founded in 2018 and headquartered in Irvine, California, has built an integrated ecosystem for 3D tissue histology that spans reagent kits, light sheet microscopy hardware, and AI-powered image quantification. The company's core offering is a modified iDISCO+ tissue clearing protocol combined with the Mesoscale Imaging System, which adapts ZEISS Lightsheet Z.1 and Lightsheet 7 microscopes to image intact biological samples (such as whole mouse brains) at cellular resolution in under 25 minutes. Its software layer includes Stitchy for high-speed autonomous image stitching of terabyte-scale datasets and the Voxels/Translucence Teravoxel Toolkit (3TK) for atlas-based brain registration and machine learning-driven 3D quantification across hundreds of anatomical regions. The product portfolio is rounded out by three reagent kits (Universal, Neuronal Activity, Neuroinflammation) priced between $895 and $995 plus a $125 Specimen Holder Kit.

The company monetizes through a mix of one-time kit e-commerce sales (US-only at $90 flat shipping), direct enterprise sales of custom and full-pipeline services (Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, neuroinflammation, therapeutic antibody detection, liver bile ducts, whole-organ vasculature), and hardware sales of the Mesoscale Imaging System distributed through the ZEISS partnership. Pricing for kits is publicly disclosed while services are quote-based. Customers split between academic neuroscience researchers at institutions including UC Irvine, UC Berkeley, UC San Diego, UC Davis, and Harvard Medical School, and pharmaceutical/biotech CNS drug discovery programs at Lundbeck, Roche, and AbbVie. The company is co-founded by Damian G. Wheeler (CEO, former Dart NeuroScience), Sunil Gandhi (CSA, UC Irvine professor), and Ricardo Azevedo (CTO, contributor to the original iDISCO+ and ClearMap at Rockefeller), and has secured NIH BRAIN Initiative and NIMH funding to support kit democratization.

Revenue is not disclosed and no venture funding rounds are on record; the company is privately held with 11-50 employees and operates from UC Irvine's TechPortal/Calit2 campus and the University Lab Partners incubator. Go-to-market relies heavily on scientific conference presence (Society for Neuroscience, AAIC, AD/PD, AIM Workshop), Lunch-and-Learn educational events at major research universities, and direct enterprise engagement for pharma services.

Name

Translucence Biosystems

Legal name

Translucence Biosystems Inc.

Website

https://translucencebio.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Translucence Biosystems develops tissue clearing kits, light sheet imaging hardware, and AI-powered 3D quantification software that enable brain-wide histological analysis for academic neuroscience researchers and pharmaceutical CNS drug discovery programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

3D Histology Imaging Systems

NAICS

Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), In-Vitro Diagnostic Substance Manufacturing (325413), Medical Laboratories (621511)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Services-Medical Laboratories (8071), In Vitro & In Vivo Diagnostic Substances (2835)

akta.pro primary industry

Microscopy, Imaging & Flow Cytometry Instruments (HLAGAIAE)

akta.pro secondary industries

Reagents, Chemicals & Assay Kits (Buffers, Antibodies, ELISA, Enzymes) (HLAGAIAI), Anatomic Pathology & Histopathology (Trial Support) (HLAGAEAC), Raw Materials & Critical Reagents Supply (Media/Resins/Cytokines) (HLAGAGAI)

Keywords

• Tissue clearing kits
• Light sheet microscopy
• 3D histology imaging
• AI-powered quantification
• Neuroscience research tools

Headquarters

HQ city

Irvine

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Tissue Clearing Kits: Sale of reagent kits including Universal Tissue Clearing Kit, Neuronal Activity Tissue Clearing Kit, Neuroinflammation Tissue Clearing Kit, and Specimen Holder Kit. Each kit includes reagents and disposables for 5 samples. One-time purchase model.
2. Custom Services: Modular service offerings including 3D Tissue Clearing, 3D Tissue Imaging, Light Sheet Image Stitching, and AI-Powered 3D Quantification. Customers can purchase individual services or combine them.
3. Full-Pipeline Services: End-to-end, all-inclusive assays for specific research areas including Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Neuroinflammatory Diseases, Neuronal Activity, Therapeutic Antibody Detection, Liver Bile Ducts, and Whole-Organ Vasculature Staining.
4. Mesoscale Imaging System: Hardware product that adapts ZEISS Lightsheet microscopes for cleared tissue imaging, sold as a product/accessory.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Translucence Biosystems develops and commercializes a 3D histology ecosystem for neuroscience and CNS drug discovery, comprising tissue clearing reagent kits, the Mesoscale Imaging System that adapts ZEISS light sheet microscopes for cleared-tissue imaging, Stitchy image stitching software, and AI-powered quantification tools (Voxels and 3TK). The company sells reagent kits directly via e-commerce and provides custom and full-pipeline 3D tissue clearing, imaging, stitching, and quantification services through direct enterprise sales.

Product overview

Translucence Biosystems provides a comprehensive 3D histology ecosystem enabling the dimensional shift from 2D to 3D tissue analysis. The product portfolio consists of tissue clearing reagent kits (Universal, Neuronal Activity, Neuroinflammation, and Specimen Holder Kits) for preparing tissue samples, the Mesoscale Imaging System for ZEISS light sheet microscopy on cleared tissues, Stitchy software for accelerated image stitching, and the Translucence Teravoxel Toolkit (3TK) for AI-powered 3D quantification. Services include 3D tissue clearing, 3D tissue imaging, light sheet image stitching, and AI-powered quantification, covering applications in Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, neuroinflammatory diseases, neuronal activity, therapeutic antibody detection, liver bile ducts, and whole-organ vasculature. The ecosystem integrates with ZEISS Lightsheet microscopes and Innopsys InnoQuant scanners.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Mesoscale Imaging System Hardware product that adapts ZEISS Lightsheet Z.1 and Lightsheet 7 microscopes to image large intact tissues with cellular resolution, enabling whole-mouse-brain imaging in under 25 minutes using a 2.5x objective.
• Stitchy Software tool for autonomous stitching of terabyte-scale 3D imaging datasets, 2.5-5.5 times faster than leading commercial software solutions.
• Translucence Teravoxel Toolkit (3TK) AI-powered software for rapid generation of custom assays and 3D quantification of histological data with high speed and flexibility.
• Translucence Universal Tissue Clearing Kit Reagent kit for clearing and staining an extensive range of tissues, including mouse brain, lung, liver, and spinal cord, using the user's preferred antibodies; uses a modified iDISCO+ protocol with zero sample shrinkage and does not require specialized equipment. Priced at $895 USD for 5 samples.
• Translucence Neuronal Activity Tissue Clearing Kit Tissue clearing kit including validated antibodies for cFos and Npas4 immediate-early gene products to measure neuronal activity across the brain at single-cell resolution. Priced at $995 USD for 5 whole mouse brains.
• Translucence Neuroinflammation Tissue Clearing Kit Complete solution for brain-wide measurements of neuroinflammatory responses via the microglial marker Iba1, including validated Anti-Iba1 primary antibody and Alexa 647 secondary antibody. Sufficient for 5 samples.
• Translucence Specimen Holder Kit Specimen mounting kit consisting of 5 different mounts for tissues of various sizes, with open-source CAD files for 3D printing customized mounts. Priced at $125 USD.
• Custom 3D Histology Services Modular professional services covering 3D Tissue Clearing, 3D Tissue Imaging, Light Sheet Image Stitching, and AI-Powered 3D Quantification that customers can purchase individually or combine into a custom pipeline. Sold via direct consultation and priced by quote.
• Full-Pipeline 3D Histology Services End-to-end all-inclusive assays covering Alzheimer's Disease, Parkinson's Disease, Neuroinflammatory Diseases, Neuronal Activity, Therapeutic Antibody Detection, Liver Bile Ducts and Tubular Structures, and Whole-Organ Vasculature Staining, priced per project via direct consultation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Entire mouse brain imaging at cellular resolution in under 25 minutes
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

AI capability5 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• LundbeckcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative work with Lundbeck to monitor therapeutic antibody biodistribution in the brain using tissue clearing and light sheet imaging. Work demonstrates how combining these methodologies enables brain-wide, micron-scale visualization and quantification of next-generation antibody therapeutics for Alzheimer's disease and other CNS disorders.
• ZEISScoreTechnology or IntegrationMesoscale Imaging System adapts ZEISS Lightsheet Z.1 and Lightsheet 7 microscopes to be compatible with high refractive index solutions used in tissue clearing methods. ZEISS partnership enables the company's imaging capabilities.
• UC Irvine (TechPortal/Calit2)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompany occupies engineering and wet-lab space at TechPortal at Calit2 on UC Irvine campus. Co-founder Sunil Gandhi is professor at UC Irvine.
• University Lab PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCompany also occupies space at University Lab Partners incubator, supporting startup ecosystem and collaboration.
• UC Berkeley Cancer Research Laboratory Molecular Imaging CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing collaboration including AIM Workshop sponsorship, Lunch and Learn events, and co-hosted demos on ZEISS Lightsheet Z.1 equipped with Mesoscale Imaging System.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• MBF Bioscience: MBF Bioscience develops neuroscience-focused microscopy analysis software (Neurolucida, Stereo Investigator) and 3D image analysis tools used by academic and pharma researchers. While its core products target stereology rather than tissue clearing, it competes for the same neuroscience analysis software budget that Translucence addresses with Voxels and 3TK.
• Bitplane (Oxford Instruments): Bitplane's Imaris software is a leading 3D/4D image visualization and analysis platform for microscopy, including light sheet fluorescence microscopy of cleared tissues. It competes directly with Translucence's Stitchy, Voxels, and 3TK analysis tools as the incumbent commercial image analysis solution for neuroscientists.
• LifeCanvas Technologies: LifeCanvas Technologies is the most direct competitor to Translucence, offering commercial tissue clearing services, reagent kits, and customized 3D histology workflows for academic and pharma neuroscience research. Both companies were founded in the same era around the iDISCO/uDISCO ecosystem and target the same customer base with end-to-end clearing, imaging, and AI quantification.
• Visikol: Visikol is a direct peer providing commercial tissue clearing reagents (HISTO), 3D imaging services, and digital pathology workflows for the pharma and biotech research market. Like Translucence, Visikol offers a combination of reagent kits, custom services, and AI-driven image analysis, and serves overlapping pharmaceutical and academic customers.
• arivis (Bruker): arivis (acquired by Bruker) provides 3D image analysis software used in microscopy and life science imaging, including for cleared tissue and light sheet workflows. It competes with Translucence's Stitchy and 3TK software tools and is often deployed alongside ZEISS light sheet microscopes.

Broad incumbents

• Miltenyi Biotec: Miltenyi Biotec offers tissue clearing and 3D imaging products (including the MACS Clearing Kit and UltraMicroscope II light sheet platform) targeted at immunology, neuroscience, and cell biology research. As a large life science tools incumbent, Miltenyi provides an alternative end-to-end clearing-and-imaging workflow comparable to Translucence's offering.
• Leica Microsystems (Danaher): Leica Microsystems offers light sheet microscopy (STELLARIS DLS), tissue clearing solutions, and image analysis software used in neuroscience research. As a Danaher-owned broad incumbent, Leica competes across the same workflow (clearing, imaging, analysis) and has much larger commercial reach than Translucence.
• ZEISS (Carl Zeiss Microscopy): ZEISS is both a partner (Mesoscale Imaging System integrates with ZEISS Lightsheet Z.1 and 7) and a broad incumbent in microscopy with a much larger product portfolio. ZEISS could develop a competing cleared-tissue accessory or bundle its own analysis software, representing both a channel and a competitive risk to Translucence.
• Aivia (Thermo Fisher Scientific): Aivia is Thermo Fisher's AI-powered 3D image visualization and analysis platform used for microscopy, including light sheet and cleared-tissue workflows. It competes with Translucence's Voxels and 3TK software and benefits from Thermo Fisher's broad distribution and instrument install base.
• Bruker (Luxendo light sheet): Bruker offers light sheet microscopy systems (acquired from Luxendo) and, via the arivis acquisition, image analysis software. It competes with Translucence across the full 3D histology workflow as a broad incumbent in the life science microscopy market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/biotranslucence

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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 Translucence Biosystems