Liftlabs, Inc.

Liftlabs, Inc., a for-profit manufacturer headquartered in Lowell, Massachusetts, provides ropeless fishing gear systems — underwater acoustic release mechanisms and associated deck equipment — to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as a prime contractor under full-and-open competition, with no set-aside utilization across its recent federal footprint.

Liftlabs operates exclusively with NOAA and has secured three awards totaling $9.6 million in combined potential value. The core contract is a $9.56 million definitive contract awarded August 29, 2024, to supply buoyless/ropeless systems designed to enable fishermen to retrieve fishing gear without vertical lines that entangle whales. The contract, running through August 22, 2029, provides up to 20 deck systems and up to 50 underwater acoustic release systems across a base year and four one-year option periods under firm fixed price terms; NOAA exercised option period II in the award action, and place of performance is Liftlabs' Lowell facility. The vendor also holds two NOAA grant awards: a $190,000 Phase I SBIR grant (CFDA 11.021) awarded September 1, 2026, to redesign its lift-bag ropeless technology with cost optimization targeting sub-$1,000 per-unit pricing (performance ends February 26, 2027), and a cooperative agreement awarded April 1, 2025, focused on improving system reliability, longevity, and ease of use following nine months of beta testing with New England fishermen (performance ended September 30, 2026). Only one award — the April 2025 cooperative agreement — reaches ultimate completion within the next twenty-four months and faces recompete exposure.

Liftlabs operates entirely as a prime contractor (100% of awards) with no subcontract footprint in the source data and no prior federal contract vehicles or IDVs. The vendor classifies under NAICS 334511 (Search, Detection, Navigation, Guidance, Aeronautical, and Nautical System and Instrument Manufacturing) and PSC Laboratory Equipment and Supplies. Combined dollars obligated across all awards total $610 thousand, representing 6% of combined potential value and indicating early-stage performance against the multi-year definitive contract.