Singer Instruments
Singer Instruments Co Ltd is a privately held, UK-based manufacturer of mechatronic laboratory automation robots for microbial and yeast genetics research, serving academic, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and government laboratories worldwide through direct enterprise sales and an e-commerce consumables channel.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1934
- HeadquartersWatchet, United Kingdom
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Singer Instruments does
Singer Instruments Co Ltd, founded in 1934 in Reading, UK and now headquartered in Roadwater, Somerset, is a privately held, third-generation family-owned manufacturer of laboratory automation instruments specializing in microbial and yeast genetics research. Its core portfolio centers on three mechatronic product families: colony-picking robots (the PIXL series including PIXL, PIXL+, PIXL Go!, PIXL Max and PIXL Dark, capable of up to 3,000 colonies/hour with AI colony and zone detection), high-throughput screening and arraying (the ROTOR+ and integrated ROTOR+ PIXL systems pinning up to 6,144 colonies per plate), and precision tetrad dissection (MSM 400 and SporePlay+). Supporting these are imaging systems (ColonyCam, PhenoBooth+), a simple liquid handling workstation (SQWERTY) and the original micromanipulation instrument (MK1). All products are designed, prototyped, manufactured and quality-controlled in-house at the Somerset facility, with regional sales and support offices in South San Francisco, Singapore and Germany.
The company operates a hybrid revenue model combining capital-equipment sales (PIXL, ROTOR+, MSM 400 and variants, quoted on a project/quotation basis with 12-month warranty and optional extended service contracts), a consumables and accessories catalogue (RePads, PlusPlates, PickupLine reels, dissection needles, needle filaments, blade & anvil kits, Stinger accessories and SQWERTY consumables priced individually in USD from ~$30 to ~$6,700 per line), and service-and-repair offerings outside warranty. Distribution is direct enterprise sales for capital equipment alongside an e-commerce storefront for consumables; logistics runs through courier/freight (Incoterms 2020 DAP) from the UK headquarters and a third-party logistics partner in Bristol.
Singer Instruments sells to academic research laboratories (its primary segment, including Nobel-laureate and top-50-university users), biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies (Pfizer, Charles Boone Labs), and a long tail of government (NASA, FBI) and enterprise labs (Apple, Meta, Carlsberg). Its go-to-market combines sales-led direct enterprise engagement, scientific-conference presence (e.g., ICYGMB32), academic and innovation partnership programmes, and content marketing. With over 1,000 installations across 60 countries, more than 10,000 peer-reviewed citations, an NPS of 76, and fewer than five support engineers globally, the company emphasizes product reliability and deep community integration as its commercial differentiators.
Singer Instruments firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Singer Instruments
- Legal name
- Singer Instrument Co Ltd
- Website
- https://singerinstruments.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1934
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Singer Instruments Co Ltd is a privately held, UK-based manufacturer of mechatronic laboratory automation robots for microbial and yeast genetics research, serving academic, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, and government laboratories worldwide through direct enterprise sales and an e-commerce consumables channel.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Singer Instruments industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Laboratory Automation Robotics
- NAICS
- Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)
- SIC
- Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Laboratory Apparatus & Furniture (3821)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Liquid Handling & Laboratory Automation (Pipettes, Robots, Workstations) (HLAGAIAD)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Lab Automation, Instrument Control & Workflow Orchestration Software (HLAGAJAG), Laboratory Consumables & Plasticware (Tips, Tubes, Plates, Filters) (HLAGAIAH), Microscopy, Imaging & Flow Cytometry Instruments (HLAGAIAE)
Keywords
Where Singer Instruments is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Watchet
- HQ country
- United Kingdom
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices4 records
Markets served
Singer Instruments business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Laboratory Automation Hardware: Sale of precision robots including PIXL series colony pickers, ROTOR+ screening robots, MSM 400/SporePlay+ dissection systems, PhenoBooth+, SQWERTY, and MK1 instruments. Major capital equipment sales with 12-month warranty.
- Consumables and Accessories: Recurring revenue from consumables including PlusPlates (boxes of 200), RePads (various formats for 96 to 6144 density), PickupLine reels, dissection needles, needle filaments, blade & anvil kits, and specialized components. Prices range from ~$30 to ~$1,300 per item.
- Service and Repair: Service exchange and repair facilities for selected products outside warranty. 12-month guarantee on new products with optional extended service contracts.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Capital Equipment - PIXL Series |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Capital Equipment - ROTOR+ |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Capital Equipment - Accessories |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Consumables - Plates and Pads |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Consumables - SQWERTY Accessories |
| Unit Pricing | Pay-as-you-go | Consumables - Specialized Items |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels7 records
Singer Instruments product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Singer Instruments designs, manufactures, and sells precision mechatronic laboratory automation robots and workstations for microbial genetic research. Its portfolio spans precision colony pickers (PIXL series), high-throughput screening and arraying robots (ROTOR+), tetrad dissection microscopes (MSM 400, SporePlay+), colony imaging systems (ColonyCam, PhenoBooth+), liquid handling workstations (SQWERTY), and micromanipulators (MK1), supported by consumables and accessories such as PlusPlates, RePads, and PickupLine.
Product overview
Singer Instruments is a laboratory automation company offering a portfolio of precision instruments for microbial research. The product line centers on three core areas: colony picking automation (PIXL series including PIXL Max, PIXL+, PIXL Go!, and variants), high-throughput screening and arraying (ROTOR+ and combined ROTOR+ PIXL systems), and tetrad dissection (MSM 400 and SporePlay+). Supporting these are colony imaging systems (ColonyCam and PhenoBooth+), liquid handling (SQWERTY), and micromanipulation (MK1). The company also provides comprehensive consumables and accessories for its instruments, including PlusPlates, RePads, PickupLine, and specialized SQWERTY liquid handling accessories. The products serve academic research institutions and biotech companies worldwide with over 1,000 installations across 60 countries.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- PIXL Series: Precision colony picking robots including PIXL, PIXL+, PIXL Go!, PIXL Max, and PIXL Dark
- ROTOR+
- MSM 400
- SporePlay+
- ColonyCam
- PhenoBooth+
- SQWERTY
- MK1
Products and services
- PIXL Max Fastest precision microbial colony picker in the PIXL series, capable of picking up to 3,000 colonies per hour with AI colony and zone detection and advanced morphology classification, targeted at high-throughput microbial genetics laboratories.
- PIXL+ Precision microbial colony picker offering flexibility and high accuracy for automated colony selection workflows in research laboratories.
- PIXL Go! Affordable entry-level precision microbial colony picker designed as an accessible option for laboratories adopting automated colony picking.
- PIXL Original precision microbial colony picker enabling automated colony selection from agar plates for genetic research workflows.
- PIXL Dark Variant of the PIXL colony picker configured for specific operational requirements such as low-light or fluorescence-based picking.
- ROTOR+
- ROTOR+ PIXL
- ColonyCam VOGUE
- ColonyCam Silhouette
- PhenoBooth+
- SporePlay+
- MSM 400 Precision tetrad dissection microscope with integrated micromanipulator for yeast genetics research, used by leading research institutions for cell cycle and tetrad-based studies.
- SQWERTY
- MK1 Precision micromanipulation system for handling and manipulating microbial samples, originating as Singer Instruments' first mechatronic instrument launched in 1948.
- PlusPlates
- RePads
- PickupLine
Quantifiable outcome
- 3000 colonies/hour picking speed
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Singer Instruments
Customer profileNamed customers14 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Singer Instruments technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature7 records
Singer Instruments partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- SynCTI (National University of Singapore)coreAcademic partnership with National University of Singapore's Singapore Centre for Life Sciences Technologies. Collaborative relationship for research and development in life sciences automation.
- SynbiCite (Imperial College London)corePartnership with Imperial College London's synthetic biology innovation center for collaborative development and knowledge exchange.
- SynthaceTechnology partnership with London and America-based Synthace for software integration with lab automation workflows.
- University of MainzminorAcademic partnership with University of Mainz in Germany for collaborative research and development.
- University of ManchesterminorAcademic partnership with University of Manchester in the United Kingdom for collaborative research initiatives.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves11 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Singer Instruments competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Tecan: Tecan is a leading provider of laboratory automation for life sciences, including liquid handling (Freedom EVO, Fluent) and high-throughput screening readers. Overlaps directly with Singer's colony picking and HTS workflow use cases for biomedical and academic research customers.
- TTP Labtech: TTP Labtech makes precision lab automation instruments (mosquito, dragonfly, arktic) for sample preparation and screening in life sciences. Comparable specialty mid-sized lab automation vendor serving similar genomics, cell biology, and drug discovery research customers.
- Hudson Robotics: Hudson Robotics supplies lab automation systems (Micro10, PlateCrane, SOLO) for microplate handling, colony picking, and screening. A direct competitor in microbial colony manipulation workflows with similar academic and biotech customer base as Singer.
- Hamilton Company: Hamilton Robotics manufactures automated liquid handling workstations and lab robotics (Microlab, STAR, Nimbus) directly comparable to Singer's PIXL, ROTOR+, and SQWERTY instruments. Both sell precision mechatronic lab stations to academic and pharma research customers globally.
- Inheco: Inheco manufactures precision lab automation modules (incubators, temperature control, plate handlers) integrated into robotic workstations. Comparable to Singer's mechatronic instrument engineering depth and integration with HTS workflows at pharma/biotech customers.
Emerging players
- Synthace: Synthace is a cloud-based lab automation software platform explicitly partnered with Singer (Momentum/ROTOR+ integrations). While primarily software, it sits in Singer's workflow stack and competes for the same lab automation purchasing budget at synthetic biology customers.
Broad incumbents
- Molecular Devices: Molecular Devices (also Danaher) supplies high-content imaging, plate readers, and automated electrophysiology platforms used in similar biotech/pharma laboratories as Singer's PhenoBooth+ and ColonyCam imaging systems. Broader portfolio than Singer but overlapping research workflows.
- Analytik Jena: Analytik Jena (an Endress+Hauser company) is a broader lab instrumentation and automation vendor with liquid handling, PCR, and analytical instruments. Has partial overlap with Singer's life sciences automation targeting and could credibly expand into microbial automation.
- Eppendorf: Eppendorf is a major incumbent manufacturer of liquid handling, sample preparation, and cell handling instruments for life science labs. Their pipetting and automation product lines overlap with Singer's SQWERTY and consumables portfolio and address the same academic/biopharma customer base.
- Beckman Coulter Life Sciences: Beckman Coulter Life Sciences (a Danaher business) is a major incumbent in life sciences instrumentation with automated liquid handlers (Biomek), flow cytometry, and lab automation software. Overlaps with Singer in research-lab automation but serves a much broader product portfolio than the yeast/microbial niche.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Singer Instruments social profiles
Digital presenceSinger Instruments financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Singer Instruments leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Singer Instruments subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries2 records
Singer Instruments funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Singer Instruments 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 Singer Instruments
What does Singer Instruments do?
Singer Instruments designs, manufactures, and sells precision mechatronic laboratory automation robots and workstations for microbial genetic research. Its portfolio spans precision colony pickers (PIXL series), high-throughput screening and arraying robots (ROTOR+), tetrad dissection microscopes (MSM 400, SporePlay+), colony imaging systems (ColonyCam, PhenoBooth+), liquid handling workstations (SQWERTY), and micromanipulators (MK1), supported by consumables and accessories such as PlusPlates, RePads, and PickupLine.
Is Singer Instruments a public or private company?
Singer Instruments is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Singer Instruments founded?
Singer Instruments was founded in 1934. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Singer Instruments based?
Singer Instruments is headquartered in Watchet, United Kingdom, in the Europe region.
How does Singer Instruments make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Laboratory Automation Hardware is the primary driver. The others are consumables and Accessories and service and Repair.
Who are Singer Instruments's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Tecan, TTP Labtech, Hudson Robotics, Hamilton Company and Inheco. Synthace is listed as an emerging player. Broad incumbents are Molecular Devices, Analytik Jena, Eppendorf and Beckman Coulter Life Sciences.
Does Singer Instruments have an API?
No public API is recorded for Singer Instruments.
What industry is Singer Instruments in?
Singer Instruments's product category is Laboratory Automation Robotics. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAIAD, Liquid Handling & Laboratory Automation (Pipettes, Robots, Workstations), with a secondary code of HLAGAJAG, Lab Automation, Instrument Control & Workflow Orchestration Software. Its NAICS code is 334516 and its SIC code is 3826.