About Skroot Laboratory
Skroot Laboratory makes sensors that track cell growth in lab flasks and single-use bioreactors. A sensor sticker goes on the outside of the vessel. A wireless reader placed nearby measures cell concentration in real time. The method never touches the cell culture. It is aimed at labs and developers that make cell and protein therapies.
Skroot is an Iowa biotechnology company that works on solutions for scaled biomanufacturing. It was established in 2018 as a spinout of Iowa State University research and is based in Ames, Iowa. Nigel Reuel is the founder and president. The team page lists seven people, including a vice president of engineering and directors of product, engineering and software. Wilson Wolf, IBI Scientific, ScaleReady and Craft BioSolutions appear on its partnerships list.
Funding Rounds (SEC Form D)
| First sale | Filed with SEC | Amount sold | Investors | Avg. check | Terms | Filing |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 2026 | Nov 6, 2026 | $220,000of $520K target | 7 | $31,429 | EquityRule 506(b) | Form D ↗ |
First sale is the date the first investor in the offering committed to invest. Companies must file Form D within 15 days of that date, so filing dates run later.
Why Investors Backed Skroot Laboratory
Skroot Laboratory makes sensors that let labs watch cells grow without touching the cultures. It spun out of Iowa State University research and is based in Ames, Iowa. The technology targets labs that make cell and protein therapies. Nigel Reuel founded the company and is its president.
The problem it targets
Checking cell growth in small flasks takes heavy labor and risks contaminating the cultures. Reuel says fast-growing cells needed samples pulled every 30 minutes through the day. Slow-growing cells meant coming in on weekends to take measurements. In personalized cell therapy, Reuel adds, each patient's cells grow at different rates, depending on factors like age and health.
What the product does
The sensor resonates at a set frequency. As cells grow in the reactor, permittivity changes, and that shifts the frequency. The reader also sends alerts when cells need feeding or harvest. A grant project summary expects the data to help bioprocess developers with clonal selection and small batch production. Skroot works with Wilson Wolf, a Minnesota company whose G-Rex vessels are used in cell therapy manufacturing. As of April 2025, Skroot's sensors were being evaluated for the next generation of those vessels.
Progress so far
Early adopter bundles were priced at $4,950 in 2021, when the company worked from Iowa State's Roy J. Carver Co-Lab. By April 2025 it had moved to the Iowa State University Research Park. Four product releases are scheduled for 2026: a SensoRex benchtop platform with Wilson Wolf, and three IBI releases (SMART-Cell, Tunair flask and a remote dashboard). Iowa State's economic development office reported in April 2025 that every team member had ties to the university.
Who backs it
Public grants helped launch the company. They include a National Science Foundation STTR Phase I award and a Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II award. Ag Startup Engine in Ames and the Iowa Economic Development Authority also backed it. Part of a state grant paid from federal CARES Act money supported a nanovaccine project for COVID-19. Reuel has startup experience. He founded Volvox Biologic Inc. as a graduate student at MIT. He later worked at DuPont as a research investigator and then a corporate technology scout. He holds the Stanley Chair in Interdisciplinary Engineering at Iowa State.
How the market is moving
Iowa State's economic development office points to a cell therapy market projected to pass $100 billion by 2030. Reuel says a dose of personalized cell therapy costs about half a million dollars today, which puts it within reach of only a few patients. His stated goal, with Wilson Wolf, is to cut that cost sharply. The partnership is meant to cut contamination risk, help labs plan resources and lower production costs.
We wrote this summary from public statements by Skroot Laboratory and its investors. It is not investment advice.
Leadership Team
Executive officers and directors listed on Skroot Laboratory's Form D filed Nov 6, 2026.
