What Quantifoil does

Quantifoil Micro Tools GmbH is a German specialty manufacturer of cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) sample support grids, founded in 1999 in Jena, Germany and operating as a wholly-owned subsidiary of UK-based SPT Labtech since July 2019. The company pioneered the commercial production of electron microscopy support films with predefined hole size, shape, and arrangement, and currently employs 20+ staff at its Großlöbichau manufacturing facility near Jena. Its core product lines are QUANTIFOIL® Holey Carbon Supports (25+ film geometries on various TEM grid materials), UltrAuFoil® Holey Gold Supports, and HexAuFoil® ultra-small hole gold-on-gold grids — the latter two licensed from MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology. Supporting products include SiO2 films for cell-based tomography, QUANTIFOIL® Active self-wicking grids (exclusive with SPT Labtech Chameleon), and custom treatments; all products are individually inspected via optical and electron microscopy before shipment.

Quantifoil generates revenue through direct quotation-based sales combined with an extensive global distributor network covering Europe, the Americas, and Asia-Pacific. Customers include pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, and academic research institutions in 30+ countries, with applications spanning drug discovery for cancer, heart, and neurological diseases, structural biology, semiconductor studies, and battery research. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed; standard packs contain 10-100 grids and orders are processed via Purchase Order with shipment from Großlöbichau via FedEx. The QUANTIFOIL® brand alone is cited in approximately 6,000 peer-reviewed publications and UltrAuFoil in approximately 500, reflecting deep standardization in the global cryo-EM research community.

The company has scaled operational capacity materially in recent years: in 2022 it broke ground on a new state-of-the-art laboratory complex at Großlöbichau, completed in 2023, tripling production space and adding high-tech laboratories and clean-room facilities. In 2024 it commercially launched HexAuFoil, the most advanced product in its portfolio, which won the 15th Microscopy Today Innovation Awards and is now natively supported by Thermo Fisher EPU and SerialEM software workflows.

Name

Quantifoil

Legal name

Quantifoil Micro Tools GmbH

Website

https://www.quantifoil.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Quantifoil Micro Tools GmbH manufactures cryo-EM sample support grids, including holey carbon and gold films, from Jena, Germany. Founded in 1999 and owned by SPT Labtech, it serves pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic researchers across 30+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Cryo-EM Sample Support Grids

NAICS

Nonwoven Fabric Mills (313230)

SIC

Unsupported Plastics Film & Sheet (3081)

akta.pro primary industry

Cold Chain, Cryopreservation & Biologics Storage/Handling Technologies (HLAAAJAN)

Keywords

• Cryo-EM sample supports
• Electron microscopy grids
• TEM support films
• Holey carbon supports
• Cryo-EM specimen grids

Headquarters

HQ city

Jena

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Cryo-EM Sample Support Grids: Sale of specialized TEM sample support grids including QUANTIFOIL holey carbon, UltrAuFoil gold supports, HexAuFoil ultra-small hole gold grids, SiO2 films, and custom treatments. Products sold in packs (10, 25, 50, or 100 grids) primarily to pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic research institutions.
2. Custom and Special Treatments: Specialized treatments including beam-resilient supports for high-exposure applications and custom material options beyond standard carbon.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Quantifoil manufactures and sells specialty support grids and films for cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM), including holey carbon supports with predefined hole geometry, gold-on-gold supports (UltrAuFoil) that reduce beam-induced motion, and ultra-small hole hexagonal gold supports (HexAuFoil). The company serves pharmaceutical, biotech, and academic structural biology researchers globally with quote-based pricing, packs of 10/25/50/100 grids, and direct or distributor-based sales.

Product overview

Quantifoil Micro Tools GmbH, part of SPT Labtech, offers a comprehensive portfolio of cryo-electron microscopy sample support products. The core product lines include QUANTIFOIL® Holey Carbon Supports (with 20+ film geometries in circular, square, and multi-hole formats), UltrAuFoil® Holey Gold Supports (gold-on-gold design reducing beam-induced motion), and HexAuFoil® (revolutionary ultra-small hole gold-on-gold grids with 300 nm hexagonal array). Supporting products include Ultrathin Continuous Carbon Layer (2-10 nm additive), Conventional Carbon-Coated Grids, SiO2 Films (glass-like surface for cell growth), QUANTIFOIL® Active (self-wicking grids for Chameleon), Custom Films and Special Treatments, and various finder grid formats. Quantifoil pioneered perforated support films with predefined hole sizes and remains the market leader with citations in over 6,000 peer-reviewed publications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• HexAuFoil: Ultra-small hole gold sample supports for cryo-EM, enabling movement-free imaging and zero-dose reconstructions. Revolutionary product launched in 2024, featuring 290nm holes in hexagonal array on gold-on-gold grid construction.
• UltrAuFoil
• QUANTIFOIL
• QUANTIFOIL Active

Products and services

• HexAuFoil® Ultra-small hole gold-on-gold support grids for cryo-EM featuring 300 nm holes arranged in a hexagonal array on 400 mesh hexagonal TEM grids with a 30 nm gold support film, enabling virtually movement-free imaging and zero-dose reconstructions for high-resolution single particle analysis.
• QUANTIFOIL® Holey Carbon Supports Perforated amorphous carbon support films (10-12 nm thick) for cryo-EM with predefined hole size, shape and arrangement, available in 20+ film geometries (circular, square, multi-hole) on various TEM grid materials and mesh sizes for diverse cryo-EM applications.
• UltrAuFoil® Ultra-stable holey gold supports for cryo-EM with gold-on-gold support construction (400-500 Å foil thickness) that eliminates differential thermal contraction, reduces beam-induced motion, and enables better 3D reconstructions from less data.
• Ultrathin Continuous Carbon Layer (UTC) Additional ultrathin (2-10 nm) continuous carbon layer added to support grids to improve particle distribution and quality by adsorbing biomolecules across the entire hole.
• Conventional and Continuous Carbon-Coated Grids Conventional support films including continuous carbon, Formvar/carbon, Formvar-only, lacey carbon, and classic holey carbon with non-uniform hole arrangements for various applications.
• QUANTIFOIL® SiO2 Films Silicon dioxide holey films with glass-like, chemically functionalizable surface ideal for cell growth; resilient enough for extensive manual handling and FIB-milling, suitable for cryo-electron tomography and correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) workflows.
• QUANTIFOIL® Active Self-wicking grids with copper nano-wire covered bars that promote thin film formation without external filter paper blotting; designed exclusively for use with SPT Labtech Chameleon automated vitrification system.
• Custom and Special Treatments Custom film materials (including polymer and vacuum-depositable materials) and special treatments for increased beam resilience for high-exposure imaging modalities such as electron tomography.

Quantifiable outcome

• Nearly half-angstrom improvement in resolution (2.5 Å) compared to UltrAuFoil when using HexAuFoil grids for BSEP structure determination
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Three partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC LMB)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2022Commercialization partnership for HexAuFoil technology developed by Dr Chris Russo and Katerina Naydenova at MRC LMB. Novel manufacturing process developed to commercialize ultra-small hole gold support grids.
• MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (MRC LMB)coreTechnology or Integration · 1 January 2014Exclusive licensing partnership for UltrAuFoil technology invented by Dr Christopher J Russo and Dr Lori A Passmore. Quantifoil manufactures and commercializes UltrAuFoil holey gold supports under license from MRC LMB.
• SPT LabtechcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on QUANTIFOIL Active self-wicking grids exclusively designed for use with SPT Labtech's chameleon automated vitrification system. Joint product development combining Quantifoil's grid expertise with SPT Labtech's automation technology.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• JEOL: Japanese manufacturer of electron microscopes including CRYO ARM cryo-EM systems. Indirectly comparable as a major cryo-EM instrument vendor whose installed base consumes Quantifoil grids.
• SPT Labtech: UK-based parent company of Quantifoil and broader lab automation provider offering the chameleon blot-free vitrification system, liquid handling, and sample management platforms. Adjacent/complementary rather than directly competing, but the chameleon system is tightly coupled with QUANTIFOIL Active self-wicking grids.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Global life sciences and analytical instruments leader manufacturing Krios and Glacios cryo-electron microscopes plus EPU data collection software. Indirectly comparable as the dominant cryo-EM instrumentation platform that drives Quantifoil's downstream consumables demand.

Direct peers

• SPI Supplies: US supplier of specialty EM consumables including grids, support films, and specimen preparation products. Directly comparable as a competing TEM consumables supplier and a current Quantifoil distributor in the Americas.
• Science Services GmbH: Munich-based supplier of EM consumables, support films, and microscopy preparation tools. Comparable as a competing EM consumables supplier in Europe and as a Quantifoil distributor.
• Agar Scientific: UK-based supplier of electron microscopy consumables including TEM support grids, grids, and sample preparation tools. Directly comparable as a competing EM consumables supplier and a Quantifoil distributor in the UK.
• Ted Pella, Inc. US-based specialty supplier of electron microscopy consumables including TEM grids, support films, and specimen preparation tools. Directly comparable as a competing EM grid manufacturer and also serves as a Quantifoil distributor in the Americas.
• Electron Microscopy Sciences (EMS): Major US distributor and manufacturer of EM supplies including TEM grids, support films, and sample preparation consumables. Comparable as both a competing supplier of EM support products and a Quantifoil distributor serving the Americas market.
• Jena Bioscience: German life sciences tools provider offering reagents, crystallization tools, and EM consumables including TEM grids. Comparable as a life sciences tools peer with EM product overlap and as a Quantifoil distributor in Germany.
• Plano GmbH: German supplier of EM tools, grids, and preparation consumables with deep academic and industrial customer base in EMEA. Comparable as a competing EM consumables supplier and a Quantifoil distributor in Germany.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/quantifoil
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/quantifoil-micro-tools-gmbh

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Quantifoil