Incubation – building sustainable futures
Enterprise Hub client Labtech was founded in 1993 to bring new technology and research tools to the scientific community in the UK, Ireland and France. It markets innovative laboratory equipment, software and consumables, assembled to offer scientists new ways to help solve their analytical challenges.
In addition the company also has a reputation for incubating new hi-tech companies – in particular those that have technical innovation but require, for instance, a route to market.
One such successful incubation was software company Dazdaq whose products are used in science and technology based industries. Dazdaq was formed following a partnership between Labtech and a final year student from Sussex University. The software developed by the company quickly gained a reputation for its applications and, as the company grew, the staff carried out a management buyout which resulted in the undergraduate becoming Managing Director of his own software company.
Labtech Managing Director, Brian Page, is proud of his company's record for incubating successful companies: “It makes sense to match the skills of those outstanding entrepreneurs with our undoubted ability to open doors to potential customers – as a result, we enjoy a truly symbiotic relationship with our partner companies.
For instance, one of our current incubations is Biosera Ltd. They have five staff based within our facility and supply cell culture reagents to the life science market. It is a true partnership with both companies matching their respective skills for innovation with market access.”
Identified by SEEDA as a potential high growth company, Labtech was recruited as one of the pilot companies in its High Growth Scheme. Following an introduction from the East Sussex Enterprise Hub, academics from the University of Surrey and Labtech have now teamed up to form a new company.
The University had already patented DEP technology which matched Labtech's microplate technology expertise. It was immediately apparent that there was an opportunity to combine Labtech's entrepreneurial and incubation skills with the University's technical skills to produce new technology to the world's life science market.
The result is another new joint company – Deptech - formed to exploit the patents with Labtech's worldwide market connections. Deptech is now seeking to commercialise this new technology that helps in the search for new drugs and investigates some of the causes of cancer and cell death.
Jim Christy of the Hub said “Academics with new technologies have a number of hurdles to overcome before their idea can be a commercial success. One of the biggest obstacles is being able to develop the product to the point that it is ready to sell - and then finding a sales route to take it to market. This often requires partnership with an established company that knows the market well – which is why partnerships such as Labtech and Deptech are such a perfect match.”
For more information, please visit please visit the Labtech website.
25 May 2008