It’s one thing to invent something cool within controlled laboratory environments. It’s entirely another to scale that new baby for sale.
The tension between innovation and commercialization is something we regularly wrestle with at Abstrax. Every morning, we don lab coats and ask the same question: “How do you make money from research done in a lab?”
Balance innovation with commercial reality
Discovery for its own sake isn’t enough. Many R&D-heavy companies discover that brilliant ideas can languish for years if they don’t have a system for bringing them to market.
We decided early on to build that bridge proactively. This meant investing heavily not just in research, but in the systems and machinery that connect lab work to real-world products. Our scientists don’t concoct in ivory towers, they work hand-in-hand with product developers to ensure (most) experiments align with market needs.
This pragmatic approach focuses our curiosity. We poured resources into advanced analytical technology. Among other exquisite toys, we operate an ultra-sensitive aroma analysis platform nicknamed OMNI. With it, we can break down a complex flavor into hundreds of molecular components and pinpoint the ones that matter. By capturing a “3D metabolite fingerprint” of a material (cannabis flower, hop varietals, etc.), we get a complete map of that sample’s aroma chemistry.
Why go to these extremes? Because understanding a flavor at that granular level is the key to replicating it, enhancing it, and ultimately monetizing it. We can identify over 500 distinct compounds in a single hop strain. That level of resolution lets us see opportunities others might miss, like the trace molecules that round out pineapple, or a sulfur compound responsible for “skunky” notes.
From breakthrough to beer glass
To illustrate how lab research turns into revenue, take our recent work with Citra, one of the most celebrated hops in craft brewing. Citra’s appeal lies in its remarkably juicy, complex flavor—think grapefruit, lime, peach, and passionfruit steamrolled into one. This tropical medley makes a Citra-hopped beer delicious. But here’s the rub: Achieving that same flavor consistently at scale is hard. Hops are agricultural products, subject to the whims of weather and yearly variation. The Citra you get this year might not taste exactly like last year’s crop.
This is where our lab-to-market philosophy shines. Using OMNI, we profiled Citra’s chemical makeup in exquisite detail. Armed with that “blueprint,” we developed an Omni Hop Profile extract that mirrors Citra’s flavor profile with uncanny accuracy. For brewers, this is a game-changer. Instead of being at the mercy of Mother Nature, they can rely on our Citra extract to deliver the exact same flavor in every batch, forever. And because it’s made from botanically derived ingredients, it stays true to the clean-label standards brewers abide by. We even worked with veteran brewmasters on pilot brews to fine-tune the extract’s performance in different beer styles. By the time our Citra profile hit the market, it was brewer-tested and production-ready.
Our Citra victory highlights our core principle of reasonable innovation. We didn’t stop at discovering what makes that hop special, we pushed to make it a tangible solution to a real problem. That is the essence of monetizing R&D: moving from “Eureka!” to a viable SKU.
No fluff, only real solutions
In avant-garde industries like cannabis and craft beer, it’s easy to get caught up in hype and bold claims. We prefer a different tack: Let the results speak. If we say our new formulation improves a beer’s shelf-life or an extract boosts an IPA’s aroma, we’ve got the data to back it up. Grounding innovation in evidence keeps us credible and ensures we stay focused on real market value.
We also recognize that not every experiment will pan out, and that’s okay. Part of our system is knowing never to become 100% pot committed. We’ll test 10 ideas, then swiftly double down on the one or two that show commercial promise. By failing fast and smart, we conserve resources for the innovations that count.
The new R&D playbook
Our journey from lab to market hasn’t been quick or easy. It took patience and a willingness to invest up front. But that patience is paying off. Today, Abstrax’s approach is turning niche scientific insights into mainstream products. What others consider to be a cost center is our engine for growth.
When scientists and strategists work in sync, every discovery is viewed through the lens of real-world impact. The healthy tension between invention and commercialization keeps us sharp. As it turns out, the lab and the market are pretty good at balancing each other.
Kevin Koby is CEO and cofounder of Abstrax.