Validated · Citable · Affordable

Lab instruments you can actually cite.

A $2,000 centrifuge holds about $200 of parts. We build validated, documented instruments from commodity components — the credibility of professional gear, without the markup.

5–10× less than commercial Peer-referenceable docs Ships calibrated

No spam — one note when the first instruments are ready.

The build

So where does the other $420 go?

Scroll to assemble a magnetic stirrer / hot plate from the parts it's really made of.

$25 Enclosure + PSU Steel shell, mains supply, feet $12 Drive motor + magnet bar Brushless, rare-earth magnets $18 Control board MCU, triac, knobs, display $10 Heating element Resistive coil under the plate $15 Aluminum top plate Machined, anodized, flat
$500  →  ~$80 in parts.

One assembled stir plate. The other ~85% is brand, distribution, and sales margin — not better science. That's the gap we remove.

The math

Same performance. A fifth of the price.

What you pay for a commercial microcentrifuge — versus what it actually takes to build a validated one.

Commercial unit$2,000
Parts
Assembly
Brand · distribution · margin
That striped block is markup — ~$1,650 that adds nothing to your data. It's what a research grant is really buying.
Delos Scientific~$400
Parts
Same core components, plus the one thing that actually matters: validation & documentation you can cite. Bars are drawn to the same $ scale.
Parts Assembly & test Validation Fair margin Markup
Join the waitlist → Pilot units go to waitlist labs first.

Credibility, not price, is the barrier

The insight

Cheap alternatives already exist — Amazon and AliExpress are full of $40 stirrers and no-name centrifuges. Researchers don't buy them because they can't cite them, can't trust them, and can't defend them in a methods section. Price was never the real barrier. Credibility is.

What we build

Credible instruments, built to be referenced.

Every device ships with real performance data, honest accuracy and material specs, and a versioned validation report — one line in your methods section, built to survive review. We're not a cheaper substitute — we unlock access.

Validated

Every device is tested against published acceptance thresholds — speed accuracy, temperature stability, run-to-run variance — and ships with the results.

Citable

Every unit ships with a versioned validation report — test method, results, tolerances — plus ready-to-paste methods-section text. You cite the report, not a marketing page.

Accessible

Commodity parts, open manufacturing, a fraction of commercial cost — so a startup grant goes further.

The instrument line

Field-agnostic tools every lab needs.

Core instruments needed across disciplines, not just biology. Our first builds target the everyday devices on nearly every bench.

First build

Magnetic Stirrer / Hot Plate

Stable temperature control and consistent stir speed, with heating safety handled honestly.

Commercial: several hundred dollars
First build

Microcentrifuge

Reliable RPM and rotor balance, with non-negotiable rotor containment.

Commercial: $1,000–$3,000 · Delos target: ~$400
First build

Orbital Shaker

Consistent orbit and speed stability under load — one of the most replicable devices on the list.

Commercial: $500–$2,000
In development

Colorimeter / Spectrophotometer

Repeatable absorbance readings across the target wavelength range — our larger standalone build.

Commercial: $1,000–$5,000+

Also on the roadmap: multichannel pipettor, laboratory incubator, and gel electrophoresis rig with power supply.

And the things you use to build a lab

A deliberate catalog of reusable lab accessories, sold alongside the instruments.

Reusable pipette tip holdersPipette stands Tube racksBottle holdersBench organizers
Who's building this

Delos Scientific is built by students at Simon Fraser University who watched startup-lab budgets disappear into single pieces of benchtop equipment.

First prototypes are on the bench in Vancouver, BC. Pilot units go to early waitlist labs first — and those labs shape the instrument line.

Questions

The things a careful researcher asks.

How is "validated" different from a spec sheet?

A spec sheet is a claim; validation is a test. Each instrument is run against published acceptance thresholds — speed accuracy, temperature stability, run-to-run variance — and the full method and results ship with the unit. If a unit doesn't pass, it doesn't ship.

Can I really cite this in a methods section?

Yes. Each model carries a versioned validation report, and every unit references the report version it was tested against. We include suggested citation text — you cite the report, and it holds up because the data is in it.

When do instruments ship?

The first builds — stirrer/hot plate, microcentrifuge, orbital shaker — are in prototyping now. Pilot units go to waitlist labs first, before general availability. Joining the waitlist is how you get one early and shape what we build.

What about warranty and repair?

Commodity parts are the point: repairs are days and dollars, not weeks and quotes. We publish the parts list for every instrument, so nothing is a black box — and pilot labs get direct support from the team that built their unit.

Will my institution's purchasing office accept this?

We provide the documentation procurement asks for — specs, the validation report, and standard vendor paperwork — and we'll work with your purchasing office directly if something is missing.

Join the waitlist

Be first in line for instruments you can actually cite.

Tell us who you are and we'll invite you to pilot the first instruments — waitlist labs shape the line.

No spam — just a note when we're ready. We'll never share your email. Privacy

Prefer to talk? Email us to set up a call →