What Paperless Lab Academy does

Paperless Lab Academy® (PLA) is a privately held conference series and learning platform focused on digital transformation in scientific laboratories. Owned and operated by NL42 Business Management Consulting SL, a Spanish private limited company headquartered in Las Rozas de Madrid, PLA was founded by Isabel Muñoz-Willery, Ph.D., and runs intimate, practitioner-led conferences capped at 200 attendees across three regional editions: PLA Europe (12th edition held in March 2025 in Milan), PLA USA (2nd edition in 2025 in Orlando), and PLA India (6th edition planned for November 2026 in Hyderabad). The core product is a multi-day event featuring non-commercial plenary sessions, hands-on labs, sponsored workshops, and exhibition space addressing lab automation, in-silico-first science, FAIR data principles, LIMS/ELN implementation, and AI/ML adoption in R&D and quality control.

PLA does not develop or sell software; its technology layer consists of conference management infrastructure, a website-based registration system, a monthly newsletter, and an active LinkedIn community group. The business model is straightforward event economics, generating revenue from three streams: conference attendee passes at $200 USD (with first 25 students admitted free), vendor/consultant passes at $800 USD, hands-on lab add-ons at $200 USD per session, and tiered sponsorship packages (premium and gold) sold to laboratory informatics solution providers such as Thermo Fisher Scientific and Agilent Technologies.

The company serves a tightly defined audience of laboratory informatics decision-makers — primarily pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, CDMOs, and CROs — with reported attendee outcomes including 90% engaged in digital transformation projects and 75% actively evaluating new solutions. A February 2025 strategic collaboration with 20/15 Visioneers (founded by John F. Conway) extends PLA's reach through virtual events expertise and Pathfinders outdoor networking offerings, and a co-hosting partnership with Zifo anchors the India edition. PLA is privately funded with no disclosed institutional investors, operates with 11-50 employees, and holds a registered trademark on the Paperless Lab Academy® brand.

Name

Paperless Lab Academy

Legal name

NL42 Business Management Consulting SL

Website

https://paperlesslabacademy.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Paperless Lab Academy is a privately held global conference series (Europe, USA, India) that runs intimate, practitioner-led events capped at 200 attendees on laboratory digital transformation, serving pharmaceutical, biotech, CDMO, and CRO informatics professionals and monetizing through attendee passes, workshops, and sponsorship packages.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Professional Conference Services

akta.pro primary industry

Academic & Scientific Conferences (MPAGAGAD)

Keywords

• Laboratory informatics conferences
• Digital lab transformation events
• Scientific data management
• Pharma R&D conferences
• Lab automation forums

Headquarters

HQ city

Madrid

HQ country

Spain

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Conference Registration Fees: Revenue generated from conference attendee passes and vendor/consultant passes. Conference Attendee pass at $200 USD for companies owning laboratories involved in digital projects; Vendor/Consultant pass at $800 USD for providers or consultants not sponsoring the conference.
2. Hands-on Lab Sessions: Additional revenue from paid hands-on workshop sessions at $200 USD per lab, covering topics like Cheminformatics, AI Prompt Engineering, Business Process Mapping, and No-Code LLM Workflows.
3. Sponsorship Packages: Revenue from sponsorship opportunities including exhibition space, sponsored workshops, and branding at events. Sponsors receive access to qualified decision-making attendees with 75% actively evaluating new solutions.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Paperless Lab Academy operates a global conference series focused on laboratory digital transformation, hosting intimate events (max 200 attendees) across the USA, India, and Europe. The company organizes multi-day events featuring non-commercial plenary sessions, hands-on workshops, sponsor exhibitions, and networking sessions for laboratory informatics professionals in pharma, biotech, and CDMOs.

Product overview

Paperless Lab Academy® is a conference and educational event series, not a software product company. It operates as a single unified offering: a series of intimate, practitioner-led conferences (PLA Europe, PLA USA, PLA India) focused on laboratory digital transformation. The core conference product is supplemented by hands-on labs, plenary sessions, product workshops, and networking modules. Additionally, a monthly newsletter service provides ongoing engagement. There is no software product, platform, or API offering.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• PLA Europe Conference Annual European edition of the Paperless Lab Academy conference featuring keynote presentations, panel discussions, workshops, and networking opportunities focused on scientific data management and digital lab transformation for pharmaceutical and life sciences professionals.
• PLA USA Conference Annual US edition of the Paperless Lab Academy conference featuring hands-on labs, plenary sessions, workshops, and exhibition opportunities for laboratory informatics professionals in the US pharmaceutical and life sciences sectors.
• PLA India Conference Annual Indian edition focused on digital transformation in Indian pharma, biotech, and CDMOs, featuring case studies on LIMS, ELN, AI implementation, and data integrity compliance.
• Hands-On Labs Interactive training sessions offered as add-ons to PLA conferences, priced at $200 USD per session, covering topics such as cheminformatics, prompt engineering for scientists, business process mapping, and building no-code LLM workflows for laboratory applications. Limited to 20 registrants per workshop.
• Sponsorship and Exhibition Packages Sponsorship opportunities for solution providers including exhibition space, sponsored workshops, branded sessions, and roundtables at PLA conferences, with premium and gold tiers providing access to qualified decision-making attendees with budget allocation.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 60% boost in lab efficiency achievable through in-silico-first approaches
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• ZifocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Co-host of PLA India 2026 (6th Edition). Zifo provides architecture and platform expertise, presenting at Day 1 sessions alongside companies like Novartis and Novo Nordisk. Zifo contributes to the digital lab revolution agenda with case studies on implementing LIMS, ELN, and paperless QC at scale in Indian pharma and biotech organizations.
• 20/15 VisioneerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 7 February 2025Strategic collaboration to shape the future of scientific and laboratory digital transformation. 20/15 Visioneers brings virtual events expertise, superior scientific content generation, and Pathfinders outdoor networking offerings. The partnership aims to elevate PLA conferences by combining industry expertise, advancing digital technologies in labs, promoting seamless integration, and supporting change management while fostering a digital mindset and complying with industry regulations. John F. Conway serves as Founder and Chief Visioneer Officer at 20/15 Visioneers.
• Thermo Fisher ScientificmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerPremium sponsor and workshop presenter at PLA2025Europe. Workshop on 'Practical approaches to realizing the digital Lab of the Future' presented by Devendra Deshmukh (Head of Strategy), Paolo Concio (Senior Director of Global Commercial), and Dr. Cristina Román (Director of Technical Sales). Company revenue approximately $40 billion serving science with LIMS and lab automation solutions.
• Agilent TechnologiesmajorGTM or Marketing PartnerGold sponsor and workshop presenter at PLA2025Europe. Workshop on 'Accelerating adoption of digitized processes in the analytical lab' presented by Kevin Kölliker (EMEA Lab Informatics Pre-Sales Application Engineer) and Matthias Rupp (EMEA Senior PreSales Application Engineer). Agilent supports scientists in 110 countries with advanced instruments, software, and services for laboratory digitalization including OpenLab CDS and SLIMS.
• QGAT Hotel Sant CugatminorOthersVenue partner for PLA Europe 2026 in Barcelona, Spain. Located at Av. de la Via Augusta, 51, 08174 Sant Cugat del Vallès. Provides discounted rates for conference attendees with code EVENTOQGAT2026. 20 minutes taxi from Josep Tarradellas Barcelona-El Prat Airport.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Forum Labo: French laboratory industry trade show focused on lab equipment, instrumentation, and services. Comparable in subject matter but primarily serves the French market, making it a regional counterpart to PLA Europe rather than a direct competitor.

Others

• Outsourcing in Clinical Trials & Pharma Conferences (Arena International): Operates multiple pharma-focused conferences and events including clinical operations and digital transformation tracks. While broader than PLA, it represents an adjacent event organizer competing for the same pharma enterprise sponsorship budgets.

Broad incumbents

• Pittcon Conference & Expo: One of the world's largest annual conferences on laboratory science and analytical instrumentation. Addresses a broader scientific instrumentation audience rather than specializing in lab informatics, making it a broad incumbent rather than a direct competitor.
• AACC Annual Scientific Meeting (Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine): Major clinical chemistry and laboratory medicine conference with deep enterprise pharma and clinical lab sponsorship. It targets the broader lab community rather than the informatics/digital transformation niche PLA serves.

Emerging players

• International Lab Automation & Technology Congress: Specialized conference series focused on laboratory automation across pharma, biotech, and academic settings. Highly comparable in format and audience but smaller in scale than PLA, positioning it as an emerging peer rather than a head-to-head rival.

Direct peers

• Bio-IT World Conference & Expo: Bio-IT World is a leading conference series on informatics in life sciences, covering LIMS, ELN, data management, and AI for pharma R&D. It targets the same decision-makers as PLA but at significantly larger scale, representing PLA's closest head-to-head competitor.
• SmartLab Exchange: Invitation-only conference and networking event for senior lab informatics and digital transformation leaders in pharma. Mirrors PLA's intimate, qualified-buyer format and addresses overlapping topics such as LIMS, ELN, and FAIR data.
• Lab of the Future Congress: A specialized European conference series explicitly focused on digital transformation in laboratories, covering lab automation, AI/ML, and data integrity. Highly comparable to PLA Europe in subject matter, geography, and target audience.
• SLAS (Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening): SLAS runs annual conferences and exhibitions focused on laboratory automation and screening technology, directly overlapping with PLA's lab digital transformation audience in pharma and biotech. It is a major membership-driven conference organizer competing for the same sponsor and attendee base.
• Labvolution / Smart Lab Automation: European trade fair for lab technology and automation organized by Deutsche Messe. Directly comparable to PLA Europe in covering digital lab workflows, though it operates at a much larger physical scale and includes broader laboratory equipment.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/groups/3895483

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 Paperless Lab Academy