SPT Labtech equipment

About SPT Labtech

SPT Labtech is a British life science laboratory automation instrument and consumables manufacturer founded in 1997. It began as a spin-out from TTP Group, The Technology Partnership, and traded as TTP Labtech before adopting its current name. The company is headquartered in Melbourn in the United Kingdom. Since June 2022 it has been owned by EQT Private Equity, which acquired it for GBP 650 million from Battery Ventures. Its product range spans automated liquid handling instruments, cryo-EM sample preparation instruments, sample management and storage systems, and laboratory consumables. On Questpair, these instruments appear as used units from verified suppliers and distributors, drawn from the automation and sample-handling end of the life sciences market.

The equipment sits at the point where molecular biology meets automation. Liquid handling platforms dispense reagents for genomics and proteomics workflows, where positive-displacement heads move nanolitre volumes that a manual pipette cannot reach reliably. These instruments do the repetitive dispensing that underpins high-throughput screening, next-stage genomics library preparation, and crystallography drop-setting. Cryo-EM sample preparation feeds structural biology, vitrifying specimens for electron microscopy so that proteins and complexes can be imaged in a near-native state. Sample management and storage systems hold compound and biological libraries at controlled temperatures, which is where biobanking and compound-management operations depend on automated retrieval. Across all of this the common thread is cell and molecular biology work carried out at a scale and precision that rules out manual handling.

SPT Labtech product lines

The notable product lines are the mosquito, dragonfly, firefly, chameleon, apricot, comPACT, comPOUND, arktic and lab2lab. The mosquito and dragonfly are the liquid handling instruments, the first aimed at nanolitre positive-displacement dispensing and the second at a larger microlitre-to-millilitre range, so the two serve different volume regimes rather than overlapping. The firefly adds flexible multi-technology liquid handling for assay and library-prep automation. The chameleon is the cryo-EM sample preparation platform, automating the vitrification steps that precede electron microscopy imaging. The apricot line covers pipetting tools, while comPACT and comPOUND are automated sample storage and retrieval stores, and arktic handles low-temperature sample management. The lab2lab system connects instruments across a facility to move samples between them. Not every line is represented in the used catalogue at any one time, and which families are listed shifts with available inventory.

SPT Labtech on Questpair

The Questpair catalogue holds 56 SPT Labtech listings from 5 verified suppliers and distributors across 4 countries. All 56 are used units, so there is no new stock to compare against within this catalogue; the price comparison is against buying new from the maker, and used instruments are listed below new pricing. Prices run from EUR 758 to EUR 53.508. The average listing sits at EUR 20.469. 100 percent of the listings are used.

For anyone sourcing one of these platforms, a few things are worth settling before purchase. Manuals and documentation can be requested through Questpair, and specialists respond within one hour. Parts can be sourced via Questpair as well. Warranty is often possible and is arranged in consultation for the specific listing, so it is a question to raise against the individual unit rather than the brand. Because these are calibrated automation instruments, installation and any recalibration after shipping are worth planning for, particularly where the supplier and the buyer are in different countries.

Questpair review of SPT Labtech

Our take based on listings data and supplier feedback

SPT Labtech occupies a specialised corner of laboratory automation, and the inventory on Questpair reflects that focus. The catalogue is drawn from instruments that handle small-volume dispensing, sample storage, and electron microscopy sample preparation, rather than the broad general-purpose equipment that fills most marketplaces. For a buyer who already knows what a mosquito or a dragonfly does, the used market offers a route into platforms that carry a high entry price when bought new.

The first of the three benefits concerns the liquid handling range. The mosquito line is built around positive-displacement dispensing in the nanolitre range, which matters for applications where reagent cost or sample scarcity rules out larger volumes. Genomics library preparation is the application most commonly associated with these instruments, alongside crystallography screening where tiny, repeatable drops are the whole point. The dragonfly uses a different dispensing mechanism aimed at microlitre to millilitre volumes, so a lab weighing the two is really choosing between two volume regimes rather than two versions of the same tool. On Questpair, both appear within a price span running from EUR 758 to EUR 53.508, which covers the gap between a bare instrument and a configured system.

The second benefit is the chameleon, which prepares samples for cryogenic electron microscopy. This is a thin instrument class. Vitrification devices are made by few manufacturers and change hands rarely on the second-hand market, so their presence in a used catalogue is worth noting for a structural biology group that cannot justify new-instrument capital. The platform automates the blotting and freezing steps that a manual plunge-freezer leaves to the operator, which is where reproducibility problems tend to originate.

The third benefit is the condition and pricing picture. Every one of the 56 listings is a used unit, so there is no new-versus-used decision to make within the SPT Labtech catalogue itself; the comparison is against buying new from the maker. Used and refurbished instruments are listed below new pricing, and that price difference is the clearest reason to look at this inventory. The average sits at EUR 20.469, which places the bulk of the catalogue in the range a mid-sized lab budgets for a single automation platform rather than a capital-project line item.

A few practical points sit alongside the three benefits. The listings come from 5 verified suppliers and distributors spread across 4 countries, so a buyer in one market may be sourcing from another and should factor shipping and installation of what are often sensitive, calibrated instruments. Warranty is not centrally set; where it matters, it is arranged in consultation for the specific listing, so the warranty question belongs to the individual unit rather than to the brand as a whole. Documentation and parts can both be handled through Questpair for anyone who needs them after purchase. What the catalogue rewards is a buyer who arrives knowing the platform they want, because the value here is access to narrow, high-cost automation at used pricing rather than a wide selection to browse.

**Automation platforms built for low-volume dispensing**

The mosquito and dragonfly liquid handling instruments dispense nanolitre to microlitre volumes, a capability sought for genomics library preparation and high-throughput screening setups.

**Cryo-EM sample preparation in one platform**

The chameleon addresses vitrification for electron microscopy workflows, a narrow instrument class that rarely appears on the used market.

**Verified used inventory below new pricing**

All 56 SPT Labtech listings on Questpair are used units offered by verified suppliers and distributors, priced beneath comparable new instruments.