What Microfluidic Foundry does

Microfluidic Foundry is a privately held Berkeley, California-based engineering services company that designs, simulates, and fabricates custom microfluidic devices for academic researchers, national laboratories, healthcare and life-sciences companies, and government programs. Founded in 2011, the firm positions itself as a full-stack microfluidic foundry, providing computational simulation (particle tracing, chaotic advection, Poiseuille/Couette/Stokes flow, electrophoresis, electroosmosis, dielectrophoresis, magnetohydrodynamics) alongside hands-on fabrication capabilities including glass and silicon etching, PDMS molding, multiple bonding techniques (fusion, anodic, eutectic), metal-film deposition, insulation layers, injection molding, and machine-shop work. It also markets application-specific sensor and device modules spanning temperature, pressure, density, humidity, viscosity, flow, filtration, and electrochemical/NMR measurement functions.

The business model is professional services: revenue is generated through quote-based custom device fabrication and simulation engagements sold directly to enterprise and institutional buyers, with no disclosed pricing or productized offerings. Distribution is direct-sales-driven, leveraging registered-supplier and registered-service-provider qualifications with marquee accounts — most prominently BD (registered supplier, January 2018) and Stanford University and Sandia National Laboratory (registered service provider, April 2019). Customers were also referenced for UC Berkeley, UIUC, and NASA JPL, and the company noted a delivery for international customers beginning January 2023. Marketing channels are concentrated in company website content, MEMS/microfluidics industry events (e.g., MEMS Executive Congress, MEMS Manufacturing 2017, IoTBuild US 2018), and earned media such as the Advancements TV invitation (September 2024).

The defensible assets behind these relationships include a US patent granted by USPTO in January 2018 for a microchip that directly reads moving speed, a publication in Nature Scientific Reports (2018) on PM2.5 inertial impaction filters, and an advisory bench anchored by Stanford Microfluidics Laboratory director Juan G. Santiago, UC Berkeley QB3 managing director Paul Lum, and UC Riverside's Ke Du. The company is led by CEO Mingqiang Yi (PhD, University of Pennsylvania, 2001) with board members Wilson Wang and Aaron Rong. Despite a stated customer count of 100+ (milestone reached February 2022), headcount is reported at 1–10 employees, the company is privately held with no disclosed outside investors or funding rounds, and no revenue figures have been published.

Name

Microfluidic Foundry

Legal name

Microfluidic Foundry

Website

https://microfluidicfoundry.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Microfluidic Foundry is a privately held Berkeley-based engineering services firm that designs, simulates, and fabricates custom microfluidic devices for academic researchers, national laboratories, and healthcare and life-sciences companies, including BD, Stanford University, and Sandia National Laboratory.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Microfluidic Device Fabrication Services

NAICS

Other Measuring and Controlling Device Manufacturing (334519), Totalizing Fluid Meter and Counting Device Manufacturing (334514), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (33451)

SIC

Electromedical & Electrotherapeutic Apparatus (3845), Totalizing Fluid Meters & Counting Devices (3824)

akta.pro primary industry

Biosensors & Lab-on-Chip (BioMEMS) (HDAHALAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

MEMS Actuators & Micro-Mechanisms (Micromirrors/Microfluidics) (HDAHALAJ), Sensors, MEMS & Imaging ICs (HDAHAAAG)

Keywords

• Microfluidic device fabrication
• Microfluidic simulation services
• Custom lab-on-chip
• MEMS fabrication
• Microfluidic sensor devices

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Microfluidic Device Fabrication Services: Custom fabrication of microfluidic devices for research and commercial applications

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Microfluidic Foundry designs, simulates, and fabricates custom microfluidic devices and application-specific sensor components for research institutions, healthcare and life sciences companies, and government laboratories. Core deliverables include computational microfluidic simulation, custom chip/device fabrication using glass/silicon etching, PDMS molding, and bonding techniques, and finished sensor products such as flow meters, pressure sensors, viscometers, nano filters, and electrochemical detectors.

Product overview

Microfluidic Foundry provides a comprehensive suite of microfluidic technology services consisting of three core offerings: (1) Simulation Services for modeling particle tracing, chaotic advection, and various fluid dynamics phenomena; (2) Fabrication Services for manufacturing microfluidic devices using glass/silicon etching, PDMS molding, bonding techniques, and machining; and (3) Application-Specific Sensor Devices covering temperature, pressure, density, humidity, viscosity, flow, filtration, and electrochemical sensing applications. The company serves academic institutions, national laboratories, and industrial clients including BD, Stanford University, and Sandia National Lab.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Microfluidic Simulation Services Computational microfluidic simulation services including particle tracing, chaotic advection, Poiseuille flow, Couette flow, Stokes flow, electrophoresis, electroosmosis, dielectrophoresis, and magneto hydrodynamics; provided to research institutions, national laboratories, and industrial clients.
• Microfluidic Device Fabrication Services Custom fabrication services for microfluidic devices covering glass etching, silicon etching, PDMS molding, fusion bonding, anodic bonding, eutectic bonding, metal film deposition, insulation layers, injection molding, and machine shop work; delivered to research institutions and industrial customers.
• Microfluidic Sensor and Application Devices Application-specific microfluidic devices and sensors including temperature sensors, pressure sensors, density meters, hygrometers, viscometers, flow meters, nano filters, wind speedometers, centrifuges, pumps, electrochemical detectors, NMR cells, and impedance cells; supplied to research and industrial customers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Reached 100 customers milestone in February 2022
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers5 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

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2023Received invitation for MEDALS (Multi-Divisional Engineering, Design, Analysis, Lab-wide Support) Program at JPL/Caltech (December 2023).
• Stanford UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2019Qualified as registered service provider for Stanford University in April 2019. Delivered devices for Stanford project on COVID-19 research (November 2020).
• Sandia National LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 April 2019Qualified as registered service provider for Sandia National Laboratory in April 2019.
• BD (Becton Dickinson)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Microfluidic Foundry approved as registered supplier to BD in January 2018. Delivered devices to BD Life Sciences in October 2017. Ongoing supplier relationship for microfluidic device supply.
• US Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 September 2017Met with Department of Energy and National Institute of Health during SBIR road tour at Berkeley (September 2017).

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• TTP (The Technology Partnership): UK-based technology development and productization firm with microfluidic and lab-on-chip capabilities — a broader incumbent offering microfluidic device development services to commercial clients.
• Silex Microsystems: Sweden-based pure-play MEMS foundry offering full-scale 8-inch wafer MEMS fabrication services to commercial customers — a much larger incumbent competitor for higher-volume MEMS and microfluidic manufacturing contracts.
• Innovative Micro Technology (IMT): US-based MEMS foundry providing wafer-level MEMS and microfluidic device fabrication and packaging services to commercial customers — competing with Microfluidic Foundry for outsourced MEMS and bioMEMS programs.

Direct peers

• Micronit: Netherlands-based microfluidics and MEMS device manufacturer offering custom chip prototyping and fabrication for life sciences, chemistry, and diagnostics — directly comparable fabrication-services and lab-on-chip offerings.
• Fluigent: French microfluidic instrumentation company specializing in fluid handling, flow control, and pressure-based measurement for life-science and diagnostics research — overlapping product lines with Microfluidic Foundry's flow meters and pumps.
• Dolomite Microfluidics: UK-based specialist in microfluidic chips, components, and integrated systems for research and diagnostics. Closely comparable to Microfluidic Foundry as a microfluidic device and component manufacturer serving academic and commercial R&D customers.
• Microfluidic ChipShop: Germany-based manufacturer of microfluidic chips and components with both standardized catalog offerings and custom fabrication — a direct competitor in lab-on-chip and polymer (e.g., PDMS, glass) microfluidic prototyping.

Emerging players

• Cellix: Ireland-based provider of microfluidic cell biology and drug-delivery instruments, including pumps and flow-control systems — overlapping pump and flow-control product category with Microfluidic Foundry.
• uFluidix: Canadian microfluidic chip design and manufacturing services provider offering rapid prototyping and small-volume fabrication — a smaller-scale but directly comparable microfluidic foundry.
• Sphere Fluidics: UK-based company developing microfluidic instruments and consumables for single-cell analysis and biologics discovery — overlapping customer base (academic and pharma R&D) and complementary lab-on-chip technology.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/microfluidic-foundry-llc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Microfluidic Foundry