Labfolder Acquires cubuslab and becomes Labforward

Labfolder GmbH, a leading electronic lab notebook provider, and cubuslab GmbH, a laboratory execution system software, announced their merger. The joint company will operate under the name Labforward GmbH.

The cubuslab products and the competences of the cubuslab team together with the strengths of labfolder pave the way for an important strategic development. "A laboratory process has three basic steps: planning, execution and documentation," explained Dr Simon Bungers, CEO and co-founder of labfolder. "With labfolder, we are established in the documentation stage, where all data comes together; with the cubuslab platform and the data from laboratory devices, we simplify and increase the number of data inputs. The cubuslab founders remain in the joint company. Dr Bungers continued: "We are enormously impressed by what the cubuslab team has achieved. We have known and appreciated each other for several years, so we are looking forward to working together in the future in addition to expanding our expertise."

In contrast to many proprietary solutions, the cubuslab platform can be used to integrate, monitor and control laboratory equipment across different instrument manufacturers. "Labforward therefore also stands for openness and interoperability", said Dr Dominic Lütjohan, cubuslab CEO and co-founder: "We do not believe that closed systems will be a long-term success on the market. This means that the cubuslab box and software can also talk to other LIMS (Laboratory Information Management Systems) and ELNs and labfolder also interacts with other device platforms. What is important is that we have the expertise in both areas - in the laboratory, where the data is generated, and where the data is stored and processed."

The idea of combining the competencies of both companies was born at the end of 2017: "As alumni of the Merck Accelerator Program, we gave a joint lecture at a conference organised by Merck in Dubai," said Julian Lübke, Head of cubuslab Product and co-founder of cubuslab. "We were already joking after our presentation that we should join forces. In the following year, we worked together on so many projects that the tremendous advantages of the cooperation for both parties became obvious, and the initial joke became a serious opportunity."

cubuslab and labfolder will present the first co-developed innovation at this year's Labvolution in Hannover, Germany: An innovative Lab Execution System (LES) that allows laboratory devices from all manufacturers to be intelligently linked into smart workflows. "This makes laboratory work more efficient and precise," said Dr Florian Hauer, CPO and co-founder of labfolder. "The automatic data collection and transfer to the labfolder ELN also reduces the documentation effort enormously.

Labforward is currently working with leading companies in Germany, Europe, the USA and Asia to roll out these innovations internationally. The next highlight this autumn is the Beijing Conference and Exhibition on Instrumental Analysis (BCEIA) in Beijing.