Galway lab productivity tool PlanDomino acquired by Belgian firm

28 May 2021

PlanDomino CEO Greg Heaslip. Image: PlanDomino

Bluecrux plans to merge the Irish start-up’s pharma lab workflow management tool with its existing product.

PlanDomino, a productivity management software tool for labs, has been acquired by Belgian company Bluecrux.

The Galway start-up has built a software platform to help pharmaceutical companies manage the complex workflows they handle every day in labs and to reduce operational costs.

Bluecrux develops Binocs, a software-as-a-service product for lab management and scheduling that is used by more than 1,000 teams. Under the terms of the acquisition, PlanDomino will be consolidated with Binocs. No financial terms were disclosed.

Greg Heaslip, chief executive of PlanDomino, founded the company in 2017 after previously working as a consultant in the life sciences sector and noting several operational challenges that labs face.

“Joining the Binocs team is pushing the fast-forward button for our business. By joining forces and bringing the software engineering teams together, we will be able to deliver our ‘lab-of-the-future’ vision faster,” Heaslip said.

The Galway-based start-up had raised a small amount of funding to date, including €30,000 from the NDRC’s Portershed investor showcase and some grant funding from the European Innovation Council. It has carried out a number of pilots with labs.

“PlanDomino brings even more substantial experience and know-how and will support our further growth and geographical expansion,” Geert Vanhove, executive vice-president of Binocs said. “Moreover, both PlanDomino and Binocs have great enhancements and innovations staged, which can be merged in one roadmap.”

Koen Jaspers, chief executive of Bluecrux, added that the Irish start-up “fits perfectly into our further growth strategy”.

“It strengthens our leadership position in life sciences transformation. And with our headquarters in Belgium, our office in New Jersey and now a new office in Ireland, we’re very happy to create a third hub to host the best talent,” Jaspers said.

Jonathan Keane is a freelance business and technology journalist based in Dublin

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