Open business is good business.
Sanworks was founded on a huge gamble - that research labs would prefer to buy completely open research instruments from a company that actively works to enable the less expensive option of self-assembly. Our assembly service has been open for two months, and we are happy to report some initial signs that this unconventional business model is working. Thus far, 23 labs have made 28 purchases, totaling over $45k in sales. Our first two manufacturing runs of Bpod and Pulse Pal devices sold out, and half of our third run has already been back-ordered. If this madness continues, Sanworks will be able to expand by hiring an assembly technician, so more engineer time can be spent on documentation and new product development.
During these 8 weeks, our staff visited HHMI Janelia, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and Femtonics Advanced Microscopy. These visits served to promote our growing technology offering, and to provide technical assistance with assembly and customization.
From the engineering desk, we have several new advances to be revealed this summer. The most immenent products are a system for automatic loading and unloading of test subjects from behavior chambers, a system that captures lateral paw swipes (for combining 2AFC behavior with functional microscopy), and a production version of the Bpod Teensy sound server.
