OpenCell

What OpenCell does

OpenCell, founded in June 2018 by Helene Steiner and Dr. Thomas Meany, operates a biotechnology laboratory infrastructure platform based in London. The company converts shipping containers into modular BSL2+ laboratories and rents them as fully serviced workspaces to biotech and life sciences startups. The core offering, branded BioHotel, comprises four tiered lab configurations (Startup, Grow, Scale, Unicorn) priced from £2,990 to £11,960+ per month across sites in White City, East London, and Hammersmith, all backed by a minimum 3-month rental commitment.

The technical stack centers on the Alfred digital lab operating system, which connects every piece of equipment via IoT sensors to a cloud dashboard for real-time monitoring of temperature, airflow, incubator status, and experimental protocol status, alongside equipment booking, consumables ordering, and waste management. An integrated online store offers validated consumables with same-day workbench delivery and a 10% member discount. The CONTAIN product line, launched in May 2020 in partnership with King's College London and Opentrons Labworks, packages this modular philosophy into deployable mobile COVID-19 diagnostics laboratories capable of processing up to 2,400 RT-qPCR tests per day from a 40-foot shipping container.

OpenCell's revenue model is primarily subscription-based monthly lab rentals, supplemented by transactional consumables sales to members. A secondary revenue stream comes from hardware sale and deployment of CONTAIN mobile testing labs to governments, airports, and healthcare organizations, exemplified by the Government of Jersey contract. Customer segments span early-stage biotech startups working in synthetic biology, gene editing, diagnostics, food tech, and biomaterials, alongside episodic engagements with healthcare providers and government agencies. As of the source period, the company reported 100+ biotech startups served and 70 shipping container labs deployed, with no institutional venture funding disclosed beyond an Innovate UK grant.

Name

OpenCell

Legal name

OpenCell

Website

https://opencell.bio

Company type

Private

Founded year

2018

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

OpenCell operates a London-based lab-as-a-service platform that rents modular BSL2+ shipping-container laboratories to biotech startups under monthly subscriptions, complemented by a deployable mobile COVID-19 testing lab and an IoT-connected Alfred operating system for equipment monitoring and consumables ordering.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Biotech Laboratory Infrastructure (Lab-as-a-Service)

NAICS

Testing Laboratories and Services (541380), Medical Laboratories (621511)

SIC

Services-Testing Laboratories (8734), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)

akta.pro primary industry

Lab Middleware, Instrument Connectivity & Automation (HLACAMAI)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sample Logistics, Biorepository & IVD Kit Management (Trial Support) (HLAGAEAI), Lab Furniture, Facilities & Utilities (Benches, Casework, Gas/Water Systems) (HLAGAIAM)

Keywords

• Biotech laboratory rental
• BSL2+ lab facilities
• Mobile diagnostic labs
• Lab operating software
• Modular biolab infrastructure

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Lab Space Rental: Monthly rental of fully serviced BSL2+ lab spaces at four tier levels (Startup, Grow, Scale, Unicorn). All-inclusive rent covers water, electricity, waste management, lab coats, glassware washing, cryogenic freezer access, and IoT monitoring system. Additional fee-based access to specialist equipment including Automation lab, Diagnostic Suite, and Imaging Suite with Tissue Culture Lab.
2. CONTAIN Mobile Lab Deployment: Sale and deployment of mobile COVID-19 testing laboratories built in shipping containers. Units include full BSL2+ diagnostics capability, staffing, and operational support. Revenue from government contracts, airport testing programs, and business workplace testing deployments.
3. Lab Consumables Store: Online store for fully validated consumables with 10% discount for BioHotel members and same-day delivery to workbenches. Additional services include dry ice shipments and reagent delivery handling.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

OpenCell provides fully serviced BSL2+ biotechnology laboratory space inside shipping containers on monthly subscription rental agreements to biotech and life-sciences startups in London. Its secondary offering is CONTAIN, a turnkey mobile COVID-19 diagnostics laboratory deployable globally for governments, airports, and healthcare organisations. All facilities are connected via Alfred, an in-house IoT lab management platform, and bundled with shared services such as cryogenic storage, waste management, glassware washing, sequencing, and an online consumables store.

Product overview

OpenCell provides biotechnology laboratory infrastructure through two primary offerings: the BioHotel modular lab platform and the CONTAIN mobile testing lab. The BioHotel consists of four tiers of BSL2+ labs (Startup, Grow, Scale, Unicorn) ranging from £2,990 to £11,960+ monthly, all connected via the Alfred Lab Operating System—an IoT-based platform that monitors equipment, manages protocols, books resources, and orders consumables. The CONTAIN unit is a mobile COVID-19 testing laboratory in shipping containers capable of 2,000 tests per day. Additional services include cryogenic storage, waste management, sequencing services, and an online consumables store.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• CONTAIN: Mobile COVID-19 testing lab solution inside a shipping container capable of processing 2,400 tests per day
• BioHotel
• Alfred

Products and services

• BioHotel A fully serviced BSL2+ laboratory facility offering flexible monthly rental agreements for biotech and life sciences startups in London. Modular labs with IoT-connected monitoring via Alfred and bundled BioHotel services (waste, laundry, glassware, cryogenic storage, sequencing).
• CONTAIN Mobile COVID-19 Testing Lab A mobile BSL2+ COVID-19 diagnostics laboratory built inside a 40-foot shipping container. Uses Opentrons OT2 liquid-handling robots for automated RNA extraction and qPCR, capable of 2,000-2,400 RT-qPCR tests per day. Designed for rapid global deployment to governments, airports, hospitals, and businesses.
• OpenCell Shop An online store selling fully validated laboratory consumables and reagents. BioHotel members receive a 10% discount and same-day delivery to their workbench, with integration into the Alfred lab operating system.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,400 COVID-19 tests processed per day per CONTAIN mobile lab unit
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Opentrons LabworkscoreTechnology or Integration · 1 May 2020Provided OT2 liquid handling robots for automated RNA extraction and qPCR testing in CONTAIN labs. Opentrons has deployed 250+ robots for COVID-19 testing globally. Partnership enables high-throughput processing of 2,400 tests per day.
• King's College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2020Partnership with King's College Hospital South London Specialist Virology Centre for COVID testing lab development. Dr. Mark Zuckerman's team provided clinical validation and accreditation support for ISO15189 standards.
• Twist BiosciencecoreTechnology or Integration · 1 March 2020Provided RNA controls essential for validating CONTAIN lab workflows and qPCR assays. Twist shipped controls rapidly during pandemic optimization phase. Emily Leproust, CEO, stated support for the collaboration as an example of how research should work.
• Oxford Nanopore TechnologiescoreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2020Provided MinION MK1C portable sequencers for COVID-19 viral variant monitoring. Used for rapid genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 to identify mutations and variants of concern.
• Government of JerseycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Contracted to provide on-island COVID-19 testing at airport and ports. CONTAIN lab processes over 1,000 passengers daily with <12 hour turnaround. First international deployment of OpenCell technology.
• Cardiff UniversityminorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Academic collaborator on CONTAIN project contributing to open-source COVID testing lab development.
• Imperial College LondoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Founding academic partner and source of founding team (Helene Steiner, Thomas Meany). Located in White City Innovation District near Imperial College campus. Provides access to talent and research collaboration.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• BioLabs: Operator of shared, fully serviced coworking lab facilities for life science startups across multiple U.S. and European sites — directly comparable business model to OpenCell's BioHotel, with similar tiered lab offerings and resident-company community approach.
• LabCentral: Cambridge, MA-based nonprofit coworking laboratory for high-potential biotech startups, offering fully equipped BSL2 lab benches on flexible rental terms — directly comparable to OpenCell's BioHotel startup-tier offering and similar mission of lowering barriers to biotech entry.
• The Biosphere: Manchester-based flexible BSL2 laboratory coworking space for biotech and life sciences startups, offering serviced lab benches and equipment access — directly comparable to OpenCell's BioHotel and serving a similar UK early-stage biotech customer base.

Broad incumbents

• Eurofins Scientific: Global testing services group operating a large network of BSL2/3 laboratories across life sciences, food, and clinical diagnostics — broad incumbent comparable to OpenCell's CONTAIN COVID testing operations and its general BSL2+ lab service capability.
• Charles River Laboratories: Major global CRO providing preclinical, laboratory, and manufacturing services to biotech and pharma — broad incumbent serving a comparable biotech customer base, although operating at a much larger scale and with a regulatory/mammalian-cell focus OpenCell does not pursue.
• Lonza: Global CDMO and bioprocessing services provider offering lab, manufacturing, and testing infrastructure to biotech customers — broad incumbent that serves many of the same startup biotech customers but at significantly larger scale and with GMP capabilities OpenCell does not offer.
• Concept Life Sciences: UK-based CRO/CDMO providing integrated drug discovery, development, and analytical services — broader and more established life sciences services incumbent whose service portfolio overlaps OpenCell's BSL2 lab and sequencing service offerings.

Regional players

• BioCity: UK-based life sciences business incubator and lab workspace operator with sites in Nottingham, Glasgow, and elsewhere — comparable coworking lab model for biotech startups but with a broader UK footprint and longer operating history.

Others

• LabWare: Provider of Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS) and instrument integration software — adjacent technology vendor whose platform addresses the same laboratory middleware and instrument connectivity problem that OpenCell's Alfred OS targets.
• Opentrons Labworks: Manufacturer of affordable lab automation robots (OT-2) and partner in OpenCell's CONTAIN system — adjacent ecosystem participant and technology supplier rather than a direct competitor, but its flexible lab automation stack increasingly enables competing coworking-lab models.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/OpenCellLondon
• YouTubeyoutube.com/c/opencell
• Facebookfacebook.com/opencelllondon
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/opencelllondon
• Instagraminstagram.com/opencelllondon

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 OpenCell