WACD 2026 · Session 6 · Recharge setting and guidelines
What happens when every core is on the same marketplace
Notes from Quebec, where 156 core facilities at 18 institutions share one.
David Gu
Cofounder, LabGiant
Berkeley · September 30, 2026
The problem
Core facilities are invisible to the people who need them most.
Campus
The lab across campus
City
The startup down the street
Region
The group at the next institution
The capacity goes unused. The cost recovery goes with it.
LabGiant
02
Our first bet: finding it
New students don’t know the instrument’s name. They know their experiment.
“Watch organoids for three days without bleaching them”
Light sheet microscope
Zeiss Lightsheet 7
Live Imaging Platform · Montréal Bioimaging Institute
Best match
Book
Internal
$45/h
Academic
$70/h
Industry
$140/h
ÉM
Élise Morin
Imaging specialist
23 publications
Next open: Tuesday, 2 pm
Search in plain words, or ask your favorite AI assistant to search LabGiant.
LabGiant
03
Our second bet: choosing it
A stranger’s room feels safe to book. Your microscope should be just as clear.
Private room
4.9 · 128 reviews · Hosted by Maya
What this place offers
Wifi
Kitchen
Washer
Free parking
Workspace
Self check-in
$120 × 3 nights
$360
Cleaning fee
$40
Total
$400
Reserve
Confocal microscope
23 publications · Run by Élise Morin
What this instrument offers
4 laser lines
Live-cell chamber
Analysis software
Training included
Data storage
Staff on call
$70 × 3 hours
$210
Training fee
$50
Total
$260
Book
LabGiant
04
What actually happened
When we started, requests came in. Many were never answered.
Found
Request
Answer
Quote
Booked
Invoiced
Found, and asked
No reply
Nothing after it happened
So we built everything after the listing.
LabGiant
05
What we built
One place, from first search to paid invoice.
Found
Your page
Requested
Your form
Booked
Your calendar
Tracked
Materials and hours
Paid
Your invoice
Researchers find you here. Your team runs everything here too.
LabGiant
06
Along the way: the request
Every request arrives complete, on your terms.
Half-finished requests
↓
Sample type
How many
Account to bill
Certificate of insurance
A form for each service
Strangers seeing everything
↓
Department
Faculty
Institution
Public
You choose who sees it
Sensitive services
↓
Animal models
Request access
Opens only on approval
Every question your form asks is an email you never have to send.
LabGiant
07
Along the way: getting paid
Clients pay however they prefer. You set the options.
Campus users on recharge
↓
Recharge
Lab account
Internal rate
Billed exactly as today
Universities needing a PO
↓
Invoice
PO 4500012345
External academic rate
An invoice with their PO
Startups that never paid
↓
Paid
•••• 4242
Card, paid when they book
You choose how each client pays.
LabGiant
08
How it grew
One facility at McGill. Then the region.
One listing at McGill
The cores around it
The region
Today
156
core facilities
18
institutions
317
labs
150,000+
hours booked
LabGiant
09
What it did: on campus
Most cores were invisible on their own campus.
Booked hours per month, GCI shared facility at McGill.
5x
booked hours
10x
bookings
Same instruments. Same staff. Five times the hours carrying the cost.
LabGiant
10
What it did: beyond campus
Found by researchers across the country.
8,000+
researchers across Canada
45,000+
searches a month
25%
of hours booked from off campus
No login. Anyone can look.
LabGiant
11
What it took from us: trust
Built to pass your IT office's review.
Security
Encrypted in transit and at rest
Campus single sign-on
Third-party pen-tested
Privacy
Access set by you
Never shared across facilities
Compliance
SOC 2 Type II
Signs UC Appendix DS
US data hosted in the US
Built on the same infrastructure that secures banks and hedge funds.
LabGiant
12
What it took from us: a fair price
Listing and search are free.
After that, it depends on who books.
For everyone
Free
Listing and search
For every core and every researcher
Outside clients only
$0
to you. Clients pay 3% on top
Plus standard card fees when paid by card
Your campus users too
$6,000
a year, flat
Campus bookings and billing included
Every tool comes with both
Calendar and bookings
Custom intake forms
Hours and materials
Quotes and invoicing
PO and card payments
Setup, done by us
Campus recharge is never charged a percentage.
LabGiant
13
What it took from us: the setup
Send us what you have. We do the rest.
XLSX
Price list
Intake form
DOCX
Booking rules
or a login to your current system
We build it
Live in 30 days, or free
Your system keeps running
Required system? Keep it
LabGiant
14
What it took from everyone
We bring the requests. You answer them.
Labs on LabGiant
Search
AI assistants
Industry
LabGiant
Your facility
emailed instantly
“Yes, we can run that.”
Free for every core. All we ask is an answer.
LabGiant
15
Where it goes next
California, starting early 2027.
Here's what we'll do for your core.
01
Put your core in front of the whole state.
One search across every campus, and in the AI assistants they use.
02
Open your core to California industry.
Companies of every size find your services, and pay however they prefer.
03
Take the business side off your plate.
Page, forms, quotes and invoices. Set up by us, live in 30 days.
Free to join. Let's build it together.
LabGiant
16
LabGiant · WACD 2026
Someone twenty minutes away needs your core. Let’s make sure they find it.
Set up your core today.
Free to list. Send us what you have, we do the rest.
Or find David, Chen and Andrew at the LabGiant table.