The Lab Thread Story
We're building the lab platform we always wished we'd had.
01.
As a PhD student, start-up founder, and later CEO of a mid-sized cell and gene therapy technology company, Lab Thread’s co-founder Dr Ryan Cawood spent decades testing various digital platforms for research data management.
02.
There were products on the market that could support part of his team’s workflow, but none that would allow them to design experiments, manage timelines, collaborate on projects, track inventory in real time, and capture - and analyse - data, all within a single subscription.
Some of the products he tested took too long to configure; he wanted to be able to sign up, and see the value immediately - not have to spend weeks optimising, with no guarantee of success at the end.
Others functioned more like digital filing cabinets - lots of folders to store things in, but little interaction between them.
Still more required manually re-entering the same data over. And over. And over again.
Meanwhile, mainstream project management tools just didn’t capture the detail and dependencies of laboratory research.
Some of the products he tested took too long to configure; he wanted to be able to sign up, and see the value immediately - not have to spend weeks optimising, with no guarantee of success at the end.
Others functioned more like digital filing cabinets - lots of folders to store things in, but little interaction between them.
Still more required manually re-entering the same data over. And over. And over again.
Meanwhile, mainstream project management tools just didn’t capture the detail and dependencies of laboratory research.
03.
Eventually, Ryan teamed up with Co-Founder Deyan Sultov, a software engineer, who has dedicated his career to developing software that solves organisational challenges to develop an in-house solution.
04.
Ten years later, their own experience, together with feedback from the wider scientific community, demonstrated that there is still a significant unmet need for simple, affordable and integrated laboratory software programs that genuinely make scientists’ lives easier.
Lab Thread is the answer to that need; an integrated digital laboratory solution that takes the best of first-generation digital lab management tools and combines them into a single user-friendly interface, where molecular biology tools, bench-side calculations, ELN records, sample tracking, data analysis and team feedback all sit together within the same project workflow.
Lab Thread is the answer to that need; an integrated digital laboratory solution that takes the best of first-generation digital lab management tools and combines them into a single user-friendly interface, where molecular biology tools, bench-side calculations, ELN records, sample tracking, data analysis and team feedback all sit together within the same project workflow.
Mission
To weave every strand of laboatory science into a single, unbreakable digital thread.
Vision
To be the platform that scientists choose to open, and leadership teams choose to trust.
Values
We build connected products with connected people. We love what we do, and we care about getting it right.
Get to know the team weaving the Digital Thread
Our experienced team brings a mix of scientific, software engineering and entrepreneurial expertise to build a platform that pays equal attention to scientific requirements and digital functionality.
Investors
Lab Thread is backed by Mercia Ventures, a UK venture capital investor that backs ambitious founders solving meaningful problems through innovation.
Investing across software, life sciences, deep tech and consumer sectors, Mercia Ventures has built a longstanding partnership with Lab Thread, providing strategic support, capital and access to its network to help the business scale, enter new markets and achieve its growth ambitions.
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Lab Thread is a simple, secure digital thread that connects your lab’s workflows. It enhances collaboration, supports reproducibility & continuity, and ensures compliance. Easily.