Lab-in-a-Box
From an empty room to an accredited lab.
For founders building a new testing lab. We plan the space, choose and source the instruments, validate the methods, write the SOPs, train the team and prepare the accreditation, with the lab’s data designed in from the first floor plan.
Free, 30 minutes, with the people who do the work. No pitch deck.
The problemIn the lab’s own words
Every early decision shows up in the audit.
Where the balance room sits, which LC-MS/MS you buy, how the LIMS names a sample: small calls in the first month decide how hard validation and accreditation will be later. Lab-in-a-Box makes them in order, with the assessment in view from day one.
“We have the license, the lease and an empty room. We don’t know what to buy first.”
“Three instrument quotes, three different ideas of what we need.”
“We can’t report a single result until we’re accredited, and the rent is due every month.”
“Nobody has decided how results get from the instruments onto a COA.”
What we doLab-in-a-Box
Four stages, in order, with the data designed in.
Hire us for all four or for the stage you’re stuck on. Each one ends with something you can inspect: a drawing, a purchase list, a validation package, an assessment report.
Plan
Floor plan and sample flow, instrument placement, power, gas and ventilation, and the test menu your license requires.
Lab dataLIMS requirements written from the planned workflow
Equip
Instruments selected and sourced, new or refurbished, then installed and qualified (IQ/OQ), with the standards, consumables and service terms to run them.
Lab dataInstruments connected; exports mapped
Validate
Methods developed and validated in your matrices, SOPs written to your instruments, and a team trained to run both.
Lab dataValidation pipeline: exports in, statistics out
Accredit
Readiness assessment, gap closure and the ISO/IEC 17025 assessment, with the evidence indexed and findable.
Lab dataCOA templates and audit trails live
How it worksFrom the first call to handover
A plan you can check before you spend.
A free call
30 minutes on your license, your space, your timeline and your budget.
The plan
A staged plan with the decisions in order and what each one costs, so you know what the lab needs before a purchase order goes out.
Build, stage by stage
Each stage ends with a deliverable you can inspect before the next one starts.
Assessment and handover
Your team runs the lab, with SOPs, training records and data systems it can keep running without us.
ProofFigures from our published record
Built by someone who has taken labs through accreditation.
Validation packages accepted by state auditors, SOP systems sold to state-regulated labs and their teams trained, and compliance systems delivered across several jurisdictions. A new lab gets the same work, in the right order.
- Case study · State-licensed cannabis testing labsValidation packages state auditors accepted, in 10+ test categories 10+ · test categories validated
- Case study · A state-licensed cannabis testing lab in MichiganThe Michigan rescue: three months of ISO/IEC 17025 preparation in two weeks 3 months → 2 weeks · ISO/IEC 17025 rescue
- 0 accreditations lost
- Across every accreditation engagement.
- 10+ test categories validated
- Validation packages accepted by state auditors: microbiology, potency, residual solvents, heavy metals, mycotoxins and more.
- 7 jurisdictions
- Colorado, New Mexico, South Dakota, New York, Akwesasne, Michigan and the Caribbean.
Try itFree tool · not legal advice
Start with your state’s rules.
Testing requirements, accreditation rules and the regulator for every state, each with the date it was last checked. Every Lab-in-a-Box plan starts there.
Map of the 51 states and DC by cannabis program: adult-use, 25; medical, 16; limited medical (low-thc or cbd only), 2; no medical or adult-use program, 8; not yet known, 0.
- Adult-use25
- Medical16
- Limited medical (low-THC or CBD only)2
- No medical or adult-use program8
- Not yet known0
- Hatched: not verified yet0
QuestionsBefore you book
Questions founders ask
How long does a new lab take?
It depends on your state, your space and how fast instruments arrive. We build the schedule with you in the plan, and we won’t promise a date the instrument lead times can’t support.
Can we hire you for one stage?
Yes. Some founders need only the plan; others need only validation and accreditation. Each stage ends with a deliverable that stands on its own.
Do we need ISO 17025 accreditation?
Many states require it for licensed testing labs, some within a set period after licensing. Check your state in the explorer, and we’ll confirm the details on the call.
New or refurbished instruments?
Both have a place. Refurbished systems can stretch a startup budget; new ones come with longer support. We specify both against your test menu and help you weigh the service terms. Either way, we install them and complete the IQ/OQ before they run a sample.
Which LIMS should a new lab choose?
The one that fits the workflow you’ll actually run and produces your state’s COA without retyping. We write the requirements first and compare systems against them.
Start with one problem
What date does your first result have to go out?
Bring your license, your floor plan and that date to a 30-minute call. We’ll sketch the plan backward from it.