M2P-Labs, a supplier of microbioreactors based on RWTH Aachen intellectual property, has agreed to an acquisition by Beckman Coulter Life Sciences.

M2P-Labs, a Germany-based microbioreactor technology spinout of RWTH Aachen University, has agreed to be acquired by biomedical testing equipment and services provider Beckman Coulter Life Sciences for an undisclosed sum.
Founded in 2005, M2P-Labs supplies microbioreactors that allow research labs to ferment microbial cultures such as cells for screening and procedural purposes in biotech, pharmaceutical and chemical settings.
The offering incorporates a robotic liquid handling tool and cloud-based software for tracking bioreactor conditions in real-time.
Beckman Coulter expects the acquisition to bolster its liquid handling and lab automation services. The firm will retain M2P-Labs’ branch in the German municipality of Baesweiler and take on members of the spinout’s workforce.
Fidura Private Equity Fonds led a round of undisclosed size for M2P-Labs in 2013 that also featured public-private partnership High-Tech Gründerfonds (HTGF). Fidura owned a 27.6% stake following the round.
HTGF had joined German government-owned development bank KfW’s ERP Start-Up Fund and NRW.Bank, the state development bank of North Rhine-Westphalia, two years previously for a round of undisclosed size also backed by two unnamed private investors.
M2P-Labs secured around €600,000 ($770,000) in 2008 from Aachen’s Seed Fonds, ERP Start-Up Fund and private investors, adding to an initial sum of undisclosed size from HTGF in 2006, according to trade paper Finanzen Markt & Meinungen.
Matthias Eggers, managing director of M2P-Labs, said: “M2P-Labs and Beckman Coulter Life Sciences share a common vision of accelerating answers, enabling the faster discovery and development of life-changing advances in medicine.
“We are excited to join, and expand, a powerful team to provide invaluable resources to biologics customers around the world.”
– Feature image courtesy of M2P-Labs