What Cleaver Scientific does

Cleaver Scientific is a UK-based manufacturer of electrophoresis and adjacent laboratory equipment, headquartered in Rugby and founded in 2004. Its core offering is the multiSUB horizontal gel electrophoresis line, supported by vertical electrophoresis systems, gel documentation units (including chemiluminescence), PCR thermal cyclers, laboratory power supplies, blotting equipment, reagents and chemicals, and radiation safety products. The company operates across 12 product categories with a catalog of 998 SKUs, covering the full molecular biology workflow from sample preparation through separation and visualization.

Cleaver Scientific appears to operate as a product brand under Thistle Scientific Ltd, which serves as its exclusive UK and Ireland distributor. The company sells exclusively on a B2B basis through this single channel partner, reaching clinical and pharmaceutical laboratories, life science research institutions, and educational customers. Pricing is in GBP with VAT extra, using one-time perpetual hardware sales alongside a likely razor-blade consumables model. Geographic coverage extends beyond the UK to Ireland, broader Europe, and select international markets, though there is no disclosed direct-sales or local-distributor footprint outside the Thistle Scientific arrangement.

The business is small (11–50 employees) and private, with no disclosed funding rounds, revenue, patents, management team, or M&A activity in the available data. Value to customers derives from catalog breadth across the electrophoresis workflow, clinical- and pharmaceutical-grade positioning, and access to institutional procurement frameworks via the distributor's procurement platform integrations.

Name

Cleaver Scientific

Legal name

Cleaver Scientific

Website

https://cleaverscientific.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Cleaver Scientific is a UK-based manufacturer of electrophoresis and adjacent laboratory equipment, selling a catalog of 998 products across 12 categories to clinical, pharmaceutical, research, and educational laboratories via exclusive distributor Thistle Scientific Ltd.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Laboratory Electrophoresis Equipment

NAICS

Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516)

SIC

Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Laboratory Apparatus & Furniture (3821)

akta.pro primary industry

General Lab Equipment (Centrifuges, Incubators, Shakers, Ovens) (HLAGAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Analytical Instruments & Chromatography Systems (HLAGAIAA), Bioprocess Consumables & Reagents (resins, membranes, media components, buffers) (HLAAAJAI), Reagents, Chemicals & Assay Kits (Buffers, Antibodies, ELISA, Enzymes) (HLAGAIAI)

Keywords

• Electrophoresis equipment
• Gel documentation systems
• PCR thermal cyclers
• Laboratory power supplies
• Molecular biology instruments

Headquarters

HQ city

Rugby

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Laboratory Equipment Hardware Sales: Sale of electrophoresis equipment including horizontal gel systems, vertical electrophoresis units, gel documentation systems, thermal cyclers, and power supplies. Hardware forms the primary revenue stream with recurring consumables revenue from reagents and chemicals.
2. Consumables and Reagents: Sale of electrophoresis reagents including precast gels, buffers, PAGE reagents, agarose gel reagents, blotting reagents, and laboratory chemicals. Consumables likely follow a razor-blade model typical of the electrophoresis market.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Cleaver Scientific manufactures and distributes electrophoresis equipment and related molecular biology laboratory products. Its portfolio spans horizontal and vertical gel electrophoresis systems, gel documentation systems, PCR thermal cyclers, laboratory power supplies, blotting equipment, clinical and pharmaceutical electrophoresis systems, radiation safety products, and associated reagents and chemicals for DNA, RNA, and protein analysis workflows.

Product overview

Cleaver Scientific is a laboratory equipment manufacturer that offers a diversified portfolio of electrophoresis and general laboratory products. The product line includes horizontal gel systems (multiSUB), vertical electrophoresis systems, gel documentation systems, laboratory power supplies, thermal cyclers, blotting equipment, and radiation safety products. The company also supplies clinical and pharmaceutical electrophoresis systems, fermentation and bioprocess equipment, life science education products, and general laboratory products. Cleaver Scientific products are distributed in the UK and Ireland through Thistle Scientific, with a total portfolio of 998 products across various laboratory equipment categories.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Horizontal Gel Systems (multiSUB) MultiSUB horizontal gel electrophoresis units designed for DNA and protein separation applications in molecular biology workflows.
• Vertical Electrophoresis Systems Comprehensive range of vertical electrophoresis systems for protein separation applications including PAGE gels.
• Gel Documentation Systems Gel documentation systems for capturing and analyzing electrophoresis gel images, including chemiluminescence documentation systems.
• Thermal Cyclers PCR thermal cyclers for DNA amplification in molecular biology applications.
• Laboratory Power Supplies Power supplies for routine horizontal DNA electrophoresis and other general electrophoresis applications.
• Blotting Equipment Electroblotting equipment for immobilizing proteins or nucleic acids on membranes for further analysis.
• Clinical and Pharmaceutical Electrophoresis Systems Electrophoresis systems designed for clinical diagnostics and pharmaceutical quality control applications.
• Radiation Safety Equipment Comprehensive range of radiation safety equipment including radiation bins, boxes, cabinets, shields, spill trays, and pipette shields for laboratories working with radioactive materials.
• Reagents and Chemicals Wide range of reagents and chemicals for laboratory use, including precast gels, buffers, PAGE reagents, agarose gel reagents, and blotting reagents.
• General Laboratory Products Comprehensive range of general laboratory equipment and consumables for various research applications.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature5 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Thistle Scientific LtdcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorThistle Scientific Ltd serves as the exclusive UK distributor for Cleaver Scientific products. Cleaver Scientific's complete product portfolio including electrophoresis systems, gel documentation, thermal cyclers, and laboratory equipment is distributed through Thistle Scientific's e-commerce platform, sales team, and procurement network. Thistle Scientific is headquartered in Rugby, UK and operates from 41 Somers Road, Warwickshire.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves4 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Scie-Plas: Scie-Plas is a UK-based electrophoresis equipment manufacturer offering horizontal and vertical gel systems, blotting, and gel documentation. As a fellow UK specialist, it is one of Cleaver's closest direct competitors and a near-identical product-range mirror.
• Analytik Jena: Analytik Jena (an Endress+Hauser company) manufactures laboratory and analytical instrumentation including electrophoresis and PCR/thermal cycling products. It overlaps directly with Cleaver's horizontal/vertical electrophoresis and thermal cycler lines, targeting similar European research and clinical lab customers.
• Bio-Rad Laboratories: Bio-Rad is the dominant global manufacturer of electrophoresis systems, gel documentation, and PCR instrumentation. It is the primary direct competitor to Cleaver across virtually every product category Cleaver sells, including horizontal/vertical gel systems, blotting, and power supplies.
• Harvard Bioscience / Hoefer: Harvard Bioscience owns the Hoefer brand, a long-established manufacturer of electrophoresis and blotting equipment. Hoefer products compete head-to-head with Cleaver's vertical and horizontal gel systems in protein and nucleic acid separation workflows.
• CBS Scientific: CBS Scientific manufactures electrophoresis equipment including gel systems, blotting, and gel documentation for molecular biology research and clinical diagnostics. It is a focused specialist competitor in many of the same product categories Cleaver serves.

Broad incumbents

• Agilent Technologies: Agilent is a major analytical instrumentation company serving genomics, proteomics, and clinical diagnostics labs. While not a direct niche competitor, its capillary electrophoresis and lab analytics instruments compete for budget allocated to nucleic-acid and protein analysis workflows Cleaver serves.
• Merck KGaA / Sigma-Aldrich: Merck's Sigma-Aldrich life science business supplies electrophoresis reagents, buffers, PAGE/agarose chemicals, and bench instruments. It overlaps with Cleaver's reagents and chemicals stream and its broader product portfolio competes for laboratory budgets across all of Cleaver's segments.
• Thermo Fisher Scientific: Thermo Fisher owns the Invitrogen, Applied Biosystems, and Owl brands spanning electrophoresis, gel documentation, PCR, and reagents. It is a broad incumbent whose portfolio overlaps almost entirely with Cleaver's but serves customers as part of a much wider life-sciences catalog.
• Eppendorf: Eppendorf manufactures thermal cyclers, pipettes, and general lab equipment for life science research. Its thermal cycler and general lab product lines directly overlap with Cleaver's, while its broader catalog makes it a broad incumbent rather than a niche specialist.
• Avantor / VWR: Avantor (through VWR) is a global distributor of laboratory supplies, reagents, and equipment to research, pharmaceutical, and clinical labs. It is a broad incumbent distributor competitor for Cleaver's institutional customers and overlaps with reagent and consumables offerings.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks4 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Cleaver Scientific