Berlin start up chosen for accelerator programme

A Berlin start-up company, labfolder, has been selected to participate in Merck’s Accelerator programme for three months.

Benefitting from the support, coaching and consulting through the programme, labfolder will develop an electronic lab notebook that will help researchers manage large and complex data sets efficiently, offering an alternative to the traditional paper notebook.

“We are thrilled to be included in the programme. It not only opens doors for us to the research-based pharmaceuticals industry, but also to the world of laboratory materials manufacturers. This combination within the Merck Group is ideal for labfolder,” explained Simon Bungers, co-founder and CEO of labfolder. “At Merck, they know how to work in the laboratory, but they also know how to design and sell products for laboratories and what those labs need. We are also open to partnerships with laboratory equipment suppliers — such as with our SmartLAB application - and Merck is a great partner for us. They can help us to make our product more attractive from a laboratory supplier's point of view, and at the same time, they can test our product directly in Merck's labs from a laboratory user's perspective.”

“The labfolder team, much like Merck, is focused on developing solutions and products to help researchers succeed,” stated Munya Chivasa, head of the Merck Accelerator programme. “We are excited to work with them through the Accelerator programme to explore further developments.”

labfolder was selected to participate in the programme out of 475 global applicants. Merck has confirmed that to ensure as many as possible of the 20 company employees benefit from the programme, two or three at a time will be sent to Darmstadt, where part of the Merck Accelerator is located in the Group's Innovation Center, to spend a few days.