Carl Roth

What Carl Roth does

Carl Roth GmbH + Co. KG is a privately held German laboratory supplies company headquartered in Karlsruhe, founded in 1879 and operating for more than 145 years. The company supplies research, scientific, technical, and pharmaceutical laboratories with a catalog of over 42,000 articles spanning labware (ROTIPROTECT, ROTIVOLUM, ROTILABO), life science products (CELLPURE, ROTIPHORESE, PEPTIPURE), and chemicals (ROTISOL, ROTISOLV, ROTIPURAN, SOLVAGREEN), including pharmacopoeia-grade and EXCiPACT-certified pharmaceutical excipients. Underlying technology is a proprietary brand portfolio developed through in-house R&D and research cooperations, covering volumetric instruments, solvents, electrophoresis reagents, chromatography products, and increasingly performance materials such as battery research inputs, green chemicals, silicone fluids, and 3D printing resins. The business model combines direct B2B e-commerce through carlroth.com with a wholly-owned subsidiary distribution network across five European markets (Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Poland, Switzerland) and third-party distributors serving more than 100 countries; revenue is generated primarily through unit-priced one-time product sales, with a smaller services layer comprising custom analytical standard solutions, oligo synthesis, equipment calibration, and repair services. Customer segments are segmented vertically across research, scientific, technical, and pharmaceutical laboratories, with publicly displayed pricing indicating a distributed, transaction-heavy mix rather than concentrated enterprise contracts. Certifications (ISO 9001:2015, ISO 14001:2015, ResponsibleCare, EXCiPACT, and Zertifizierter Fachbetrieb für PSA) underpin regulatory positioning in pharma and EU lab safety markets.

Name

Carl Roth

Legal name

Carl Roth GmbH + Co. KG

Website

https://carlroth.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1879

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Carl Roth is a 145+ year-old German specialty supplier of laboratory consumables, life science products, and chemicals, serving research, scientific, technical, and pharmaceutical laboratories across 100+ countries through five European subsidiaries and a distributor network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Laboratory Supplies and Chemicals

NAICS

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

SIC

Laboratory Apparatus & Furniture (3821), Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Miscellaneous Chemical Products (2890)

akta.pro primary industry

Laboratory Consumables & Plasticware (Tips, Tubes, Plates, Filters) (HLAGAIAH)

akta.pro secondary industries

General Lab Equipment (Centrifuges, Incubators, Shakers, Ovens) (HLAGAIAC), Reagents, Chemicals & Assay Kits (Buffers, Antibodies, ELISA, Enzymes) (HLAGAIAI), Lab Safety, PPE & Contamination Control (Hoods, Biosafety Cabinets, Clean Air) (HLAGAIAK), Analytical Instruments & Chromatography Systems (HLAGAIAA)

Keywords

• Laboratory consumables
• Life science reagents
• Analytical chemicals
• Labware and equipment
• Pharmaceutical excipients

Headquarters

HQ city

Karlsruhe

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Laboratory Products Sales: One-time product sales of labware, life science products, and chemicals. Products include laboratory glass, vessels, consumables, chromatography supplies, filtration equipment, measuring instruments, microbiology and molecular biology products, microscopy supplies, optical instruments, cleaning aids, and laboratory equipment.
2. Chemicals and Reagents: Sale of analytical chemicals, inorganic chemicals, biochemicals, pharmacopoeia quality chemicals, dyes, pigments, solvents, natural products, organic chemicals, and pharmaceutical excipients according to EXCiPACT standard.
3. Custom Solutions Services: Custom Made Analytical Standard Solutions and Reagents, Oligo service, and calibration services for temperature and humidity devices.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Carl Roth supplies more than 42,000 laboratory products across labware, life science, and chemicals to research, scientific, technical, and pharmaceutical laboratories in over 100 countries. The portfolio is built around proprietary ROTH sub-brands covering protection, volumetric, labware, solvents, cell culture, electrophoresis, green chemicals, chromatography, and peptides, complemented by proprietary instruments such as the TitroLine 5000 titrator and the AREX-5 magnetic stirrer. Additional service offerings include custom analytical standard solutions, oligo synthesis, and calibration and repair of laboratory instruments.

Product overview

Carl Roth is a laboratory equipment and chemicals supplier operating a diversified platform model offering over 42,000 products across labware, life sciences, and chemicals. The product portfolio centers on proprietary brands including ROTIPROTECT® (protection), ROTIVOLUM® (volumetric), ROTILABO® (lab equipment), ROTISOL®/ROTISOLV® (solutions/solvents), CELLPURE® (cell culture), ROTIPHORESE® (electrophoresis), and SOLVAGREEN® (green chemicals), alongside specialized brands like ROTITHERM® (thermal), ROTICHROM® (chromatography), and PEPTIPURE® (peptides). The company offers complete workflow solutions spanning laboratory glassware, chromatography, filtration, microbiology, molecular biology, and performance materials including battery research, silicone fluids, and surfactants. Additional services include custom analytical solutions, oligo synthesis, equipment calibration, and repair services. Carl Roth operates as a single unified e-commerce platform with regional subsidiaries across Europe and global distribution to over 100 countries.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ROTIPROTECT: Brand for occupational safety and personal protection products
• ROTIVOLUM
• ROTILABO
• ROTISOL
• CELLPURE
• ROTIPHORESE
• SEKUROKA
• Mercurisorb-ROTH
• ROTIDERM
• ROTITHERM
• ROTIZELL
• SOLVAGREEN
• ROTISOLV
• PUFFERAN
• ROTICHROM
• ROTIPURAN
• Pestilyse
• Wapersol
• PEPTIPURE
• ROTIDRY
• ROTI
• ROTI Garose

Products and services

• ROTI®Cell DMEM High Glucose Cell culture medium sold under the CELLPURE® ready-to-use, sterile format with stable glutamine and pyruvate, aimed at cell biology research laboratories.
• TitroLine® 5000 Titrator Set 1 Automatic titrating burette set for determination of physical properties and titration applications, sold to analytical and quality-control laboratories.
• Agarose Standard (ROTI®Garose) Standard-grade agarose for DNA/RNA gel electrophoresis applications, sold under the ROTI®Garose sub-brand to molecular biology laboratories.
• Ultracur3D® EL 4000 Flexible 3D printing resin for conventional 3D printing workflows including bioprinting, sold under the Ultracur3D brand.
• OmniaPure Reinstwassersystem 27PP Pure water system for laboratory applications requiring ultra-pure water for analytical and molecular biology workflows.
• Water for Molecular Biology Pre-defined water product specification for molecular biology applications, sold as a catalog consumable.
• AREX-5 Advance Digital Magnetic Stirrer Digital magnetic stirrer with advanced features sold under the ROTITHERM thermal equipment line.
• Custom Made Analytical Standard Solutions and Reagents Custom-formulated analytical standard solutions and reagents for laboratories needing specifications outside the standard catalog range.
• Oligo Service Custom oligonucleotide synthesis service supplying oligos to molecular biology and genomics laboratories.
• Calibration Service for Temperature and Humidity Devices Calibration service for temperature and humidity measuring instruments, supporting traceable measurements in regulated laboratories.
• Laboratory Equipment Repair Service Repair and maintenance service for laboratory instruments purchased from Carl Roth, supporting lifecycle and uptime needs of lab equipment.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Strategic PartnershipscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCarl Roth has a dedicated Strategic partnerships page and engages in cooperations for developing new, future-oriented ROTH products based on research projects. The company develops proprietary ROTH products through collaborative research and development efforts.
• Custom Analytical Solutions PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerOffers Custom Made Analytical Standard Solutions and Reagents service, suggesting partnerships with customers or suppliers for specialized analytical chemistry solutions.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Schott AG (Life Science & Lab): Large specialty-glass producer whose pharmaceutical tubing and laboratory glass lines serve overlapping science buyers. Broader industrial footprint than Carl Roth but comparable on lab glassware and specialty material categories.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific (Laboratory Products & Services): Operates the world's largest lab-supply conglomerate, including chemicals, reagents, and consumables (Fisher Chemical, Acros, Alfa Aesar). Competes on breadth and is the dominant incumbent in the same customer base Carl Roth serves.
• Merck (Sigma-Aldrich life science portfolio): Global life-science and lab-supply giant offering chemicals, reagents, and consumables across thousands of SKUs. Competes directly with Carl Roth on catalog breadth, though Merck's scale and US/Asia footprint dwarf Carl Roth's European stronghold.
• Honeywell Research Chemicals (formerly Fluka): Brand-owner and supplier of high-purity solvents and reagents, including the legacy Fluka line, directly overlapping with Carl Roth's ROTISOLV, ROTIPURAN, and analytical-chemicals portfolio.
• Avantor / VWR: Global lab products distribution platform combining VWR's distribution reach with Avantor's manufacturing. Targets the same research, pharma, and industrial lab buyer with a similar consumables-plus-equipment-plus-chemicals mix as Carl Roth.

Direct peers

• BRAND GMBH + CO KG: German mid-sized manufacturer of liquid handling, volumetric instruments, and life-science consumables. Closest direct peer in scale, geography, and proprietary-brand catalog model, competing head-to-head in European lab-supply channels.
• Eppendorf SE: German premium manufacturer of liquid handling, cell handling, and consumables for life-science labs. Overlaps with Carl Roth on laboratory plastics and reagents and competes for the same European research-account buyer.
• Duran Group / DWK Life Sciences: Manufacturer of premium borosilicate glassware and laboratory vessels. Overlaps with Carl Roth's ROTILABO laboratory glass category and operates with a similar European specialty-manufacturer profile and brand positioning.
• Greiner Bio-One: Austrian-headquartered manufacturer of plastic lab consumables, cell-culture products, and preanalytics. Overlaps directly with Carl Roth's ROTILABO, CELLPURE, and life-science categories and shares the central-European specialty-manufacturer DNA.

Regional players

• Th. Geyer GmbH & Co. KG: German specialty chemicals and lab consumables distributor with a similar mid-sized, family-owned profile. Directly comparable peer in scale and business model, focused on the German-speaking market.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCoIKVB6E97gDTsVf125tD_w
• Facebookfacebook.com/carlrothgmbh
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/carlrothgmbh
• Instagraminstagram.com/carlrothgmbh
• Xx.com/carlrothgmbh

Compliance5 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Subsidiaries6 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 Carl Roth