HandyLab turns small experiments into big bucks, bigger staff

If less is more then HandyLab is about to make big bucks on small experiments.

The Ann Arbor-based company specializes in conducting miniature laboratory experiments. The results are the same as if they were done in normal sizes but since they are done at a micro level, it greatly reduces the labor, time and cost needed to conduct them.

"We basically miniaturized laboratory testing," says Mark Powelson, vice president of sales and marketing for HandyLab.

For example, the technology developed by the two former University of Michigan graduate students can do four nucleic acid specimen tests in 45 minutes. The same number of normal-sized tests can take between 2 and 9 hours.

The idea has proven successful so far. The two-man lab has grown to 40 employees since its founding in 2000. It expects to add another 10 this year. 

HandyLab also expects to sell its commercial instruments to 2,500 laboratories this year and expand its sales to a global level.

Source: Mark Powelson, vice president of sales and marketing for HandyLab

Writer: Jon Zemke