Cytobuoy
Cytobuoy is a privately held Dutch instrumentation company that manufactures CytoSense flow cytometers specialized for phytoplankton and microorganism analysis in natural waters, serving marine and environmental research institutions worldwide since 2001.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersWoerden, Netherlands
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Cytobuoy does
Cytobuoy is a privately held Dutch instrumentation company founded in 2001 and headquartered in Woerden, Netherlands, that manufactures flow cytometry instruments under the CytoSense product line. The company's core offering targets the analysis of phytoplankton and other microorganisms in natural waters, with hardware and software engineered for the specific calibration, trigger threshold, and quality-control requirements of marine and environmental research applications. CytoSense instruments are positioned as specialized alternatives to general-purpose flow cytometers, emphasizing data reliability and cross-study comparability for oceanographic and limnological work.
The company's primary customer base consists of academic and research institutions conducting marine biology and environmental monitoring studies, a narrow vertical dependent on research-grant funding cycles. Cytobuoy is founder-led and founder-owned (George Dubelaar), with a headcount reported in the 11-50 employee range. No public revenue, funding history, partnerships, distribution channels, certifications, or management team beyond the founder are disclosed in the available sources. Pricing is not publicly disclosed, and there is no evidence of subscription, service, or consumables revenue streams beyond the underlying instrument sale.
Operationally, Cytobuoy sits within the broader global flow cytometry market, which the source material sizes at USD 5.75 billion in 2025 growing to USD 12.19 billion by 2035 across clinical diagnostics, drug discovery, and biomedical research applications. Cytobuoy itself captures a small, specialized slice of that market focused on environmental and marine use cases rather than the larger clinical and pharmaceutical segments, which represents both its niche defensibility and a structural ceiling on scale absent further expansion.
Cytobuoy firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cytobuoy
- Website
- https://cytobuoy.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cytobuoy is a privately held Dutch instrumentation company that manufactures CytoSense flow cytometers specialized for phytoplankton and microorganism analysis in natural waters, serving marine and environmental research institutions worldwide since 2001.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cytobuoy industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Flow Cytometry Instruments
- NAICS
- Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Navigational, Measuring, Electromedical, and Control Instruments Manufacturing (3345)
- SIC
- Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826), Industrial Instruments For Measurement, Display, And Control (3823)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Microscopy, Imaging & Flow Cytometry Instruments (HLAGAIAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Flow Cytometry & Cellular Analysis Diagnostics (HLAHAAAF)
Keywords
Where Cytobuoy is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Woerden
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Markets served
Cytobuoy business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Supply Chain
Cytobuoy product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cytobuoy manufactures and sells CytoSense flow cytometers, specialized instruments designed for analyzing phytoplankton and other microorganisms in natural waters. The instruments incorporate optimized calibration, trigger threshold, and software settings tailored for marine and environmental applications, enabling improved data reliability and comparability across studies.
Product overview
Cytobuoy offers CytoSense flow cytometers as its core product line for environmental and biomedical analysis applications.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- CytoSense Flow Cytometers CytoSense flow cytometers are specialized instruments for analyzing phytoplankton and other microorganisms in natural waters. They incorporate optimized calibration, trigger threshold settings, and software configurations tailored for marine and environmental samples, enabling improved data reliability and comparability across studies. The instruments are sold to academic and research institutions conducting marine biology and environmental monitoring work.
Quantifiable outcome
- Improved data reliability and comparability across different marine environment studies through standardized flow cytometry practices
Companies that use Cytobuoy
Customer profileSegments1 record
Ideal customer profiles1 record
Cytobuoy technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature1 record
Cytobuoy partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators1 record
Recent moves2 records
Expansion highlights2 records
Cytobuoy competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Cytek Biosciences: Specialized flow cytometry instrument manufacturer; shares the core cytometry technology category though focused on biomedical rather than aquatic applications.
- BD Biosciences: Global leader in flow cytometry instruments and reagents; shares the underlying cytometry category but serves primarily clinical and research cell analysis.
- Beckman Coulter: Major manufacturer of flow cytometry and cellular analysis instruments, offering overlapping cytometry technology as part of a far broader life-sciences portfolio.
- Bio-Rad Laboratories: Established maker of flow cytometers and laboratory analytical instruments; shares the cytometry and lab-instrument category as part of a wide product range.
- Miltenyi Biotec: Provides flow cytometry and cell analysis instruments as part of a broad life-science portfolio, overlapping in cytometry technology but not in aquatic applications.
- Sony Biotechnology: Flow cytometry instrument manufacturer sharing the core cytometry technology, though targeting biomedical and research cell analysis applications.
Others
- Sea-Bird Scientific: Provides oceanographic sensors and instrumentation for water quality and marine research, an adjacent environmental monitoring supplier serving similar marine research customers.
- Turner Designs: Manufactures fluorometers for chlorophyll and phytoplankton measurement in natural waters, overlapping with Cytobuoy's aquatic monitoring end market via a different technology.
Direct peers
- McLane Research Laboratories: Produces the Imaging FlowCytobot for automated in-situ phytoplankton imaging and classification, a very close functional and end-market match to Cytobuoy's marine flow cytometry instruments.
- Fluid Imaging Technologies (FlowCam): Maker of FlowCam imaging particle analysis instruments used to count, image, and classify phytoplankton and particles in water, directly overlapping with Cytobuoy's CytoSense aquatic analysis niche.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat3 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights5 records
Customer concentration
Cytobuoy social profiles
Digital presenceCytobuoy financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cytobuoy leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
Cytobuoy funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cytobuoy 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 Cytobuoy
What does Cytobuoy do?
Cytobuoy manufactures and sells CytoSense flow cytometers, specialized instruments designed for analyzing phytoplankton and other microorganisms in natural waters. The instruments incorporate optimized calibration, trigger threshold, and software settings tailored for marine and environmental applications, enabling improved data reliability and comparability across studies.
When was Cytobuoy founded?
Cytobuoy was founded in 2001. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cytobuoy based?
Cytobuoy is headquartered in Woerden, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
Who are Cytobuoy's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Cytek Biosciences, BD Biosciences, Beckman Coulter, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Miltenyi Biotec and Sony Biotechnology. Others are Sea-Bird Scientific and Turner Designs. Direct peers are McLane Research Laboratories and Fluid Imaging Technologies (FlowCam).
Does Cytobuoy have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cytobuoy.
What industry is Cytobuoy in?
Cytobuoy's product category is Flow Cytometry Instruments. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAIAE, Microscopy, Imaging & Flow Cytometry Instruments, with a secondary code of HLAHAAAF, Flow Cytometry & Cellular Analysis Diagnostics. Its NAICS code is 334516 and its SIC code is 3826.