MESTRELAB RESEARCH SL

Their core work

Mestrelab Research is a Spanish technology SME based in Santiago de Compostela that develops spectroscopy instruments and software for analytical chemistry applications. Their work spans both commercial product development — specifically a benchtop instrument (MCodaq) designed to detect fraud in cosmetics, perfumes, and related consumer products — and participation in large-scale European research infrastructure for solid-state NMR spectroscopy. They bring analytical instrumentation expertise to the intersection of industrial quality control and fundamental chemistry research. Their involvement in PANACEA, a pan-European NMR access infrastructure, positions them as both a technology developer and a node within Europe's advanced characterisation ecosystem.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In their earliest H2020 engagement (2017), Mestrelab focused on applied, commercial instrumentation — developing a compact fraud-detection tool for the consumer goods industry under the SME Instrument scheme, a clear signal of a product-oriented startup mindset. By 2021, their focus had shifted decisively toward foundational research infrastructure: solid-state NMR, high-magnetic fields, and atomic-level characterisation as part of a pan-European access network. This arc moves from a single commercial product toward deep integration with Europe's advanced analytical science community, suggesting the company has matured from product developer toward recognised specialist in NMR-based characterisation platforms.

Mestrelab is moving deeper into European NMR infrastructure, suggesting future collaborations will likely involve advanced characterisation services, access to high-field instruments, or NMR software and data tools for chemistry research consortia.

How they like to work

Mestrelab has taken on both lead and partner roles — coordinating a small Phase 1 SME feasibility study and joining a large multi-country research infrastructure project as a specialist participant. Their involvement in PANACEA, which accounts for 12 consortium partners across 11 countries from just two projects, suggests they join well-organised European networks rather than building their own large consortia. They appear to contribute targeted technical expertise rather than acting as consortium architects.

Despite only two projects, Mestrelab has reached 12 unique partners across 11 countries — almost entirely through their participation in PANACEA, a broad pan-European infrastructure consortium. Their network is geographically wide but not yet dense with repeat partnerships.

What sets them apart

Mestrelab occupies a rare niche as a private SME embedded in serious European NMR research infrastructure — most participants in projects like PANACEA are universities or national labs. This gives them direct access to cutting-edge high-field NMR facilities and the scientific networks around them, while retaining the commercial agility of a small company. For a consortium builder, they offer both technical credibility in spectroscopic characterisation and the SME profile that improves Widening and innovation impact metrics.

Highlights from their portfolio

• PANACEA
  Their largest and most scientifically ambitious project — a pan-European solid-state NMR access infrastructure running 2021–2026, placing Mestrelab inside Europe's core analytical chemistry research network with 12 consortium partners across 11 countries.
• MCodaq
  Coordinated under the competitive SME Instrument Phase 1 scheme, demonstrating Mestrelab's capacity to lead EU innovation projects and their early ambition to commercialise spectroscopic fraud detection for the cosmetics and fragrance industry.