Last updated September 24, 2026

UNOMR

Building nanopore sensors that analyze protein modifications one molecule at a time

ProteomicsLab InstrumentsPrecision Medicine

Proteins carry out most functions in the body, and chemical modifications such as can change how they behave. These changes influence disease biology and the safety and efficacy of biologic drugs. Standard methods such as often measure pooled molecules, making rare protein variants harder to see.

UNOMR is developing a benchtop platform that reads individual protein molecules with an adjustable sensor. Its first applications measure protein size and glycosylation for pharma, biotech and medical-nutrition developers.

Key Investor Signals

CHF 300,000 in competitive non-dilutive funding

Venture Kick awarded CHF 150,000 in April 2025, and Gebert Rüf Stiftung granted another CHF 150,000 to advance UNOMR's prototype toward a minimum viable product.

Nestlé testing UNOMR's single-protein glycosylation readout

UNOMR's current Gebert Rüf project includes a partnership with Nestlé to test single-protein glycosylation measurement using its nanopore platform.

Core nanopore technology developed through ETH Zurich research

CEO Til Schlotter and CTO Julian Hengsteler developed interface nanopore technology at , with related work published in ACS Nano and Nature Nanotechnology.

Other Positive Signals

  • Selected for Venture Leaders Biotech 2026, joining Switzerland's national biotech startup team for a Boston investor roadshow.
  • Ranked #85 in the 2026 TOP100 Swiss Startups list selected by investors and startup experts.
  • Named one of three Inventors finalists for the 2026 Swiss Technology Award, selected from 120+ applications.
  • Selected as one of 25 finalists for Falling Walls Venture 2026, pitching at the Berlin Science Summit in November.

Team

Til Schlotter

CEO and Co-founder

  • Co-developed UNOMR's interface nanopore during his ETH Zurich PhD in the Laboratory of Biosensors and Bioelectronics.
  • First author of a 2024 ACS Nano study demonstrating amino acid-specific peptide detection with -functionalized interface nanopores.
  • Co-authored a 2019 Nature Nanotechnology paper on a force-controlled scanning nanopore microscope for single-molecule sensing.

Julian Hengsteler

CTO and Co-founder

  • Co-developed interface nanopore technology during his ETH Zurich PhD and continued the work as a postdoctoral researcher.
  • Co-authored the 2024 ACS Nano study on aptamer-functionalized interface nanopores for amino acid-specific peptide detection.
  • First author of a 2021 Nano Letters paper on nanoscale electrochemical 3D printing from ETH Zurich's biosensors laboratory.

Julia Wagner

COO and Co-founder

  • Investment Manager at Positron Ventures in 2024–2025, backing European scientist-entrepreneurs across health and deep tech.
  • Co-founded S2S Ventures, a student-run Swiss pre-seed fund, and led investments in deep tech and AI from 2021 to 2023.
  • Holds a PhD from ETH Zurich focused on game theory and institution design and an MSc in Mathematical Modelling from UCL.

Product

UNOMR is building a benchtop instrument that measures individual protein molecules with an adjustable interface nanopore. The system combines reusable hardware with replaceable silicon-chip consumables for protein size and glycosylation analysis.

Adjustable nanopore sensor

The sensing gap can be tuned below one nanometer, allowing the same platform to measure targets from small peptides to larger glycosylated proteins without changing instruments.

Single-molecule glycan readout

The first application measures glycosylation on individual proteins, revealing molecule-to-molecule differences that bulk measurements can average away.

Targeted capture and re-reads

Target-specific binders can capture selected molecules at the pore, while serial re-reads measure the same molecule multiple times to improve confidence.

Market Overview

Glycosylation can change a biologic drug's activity, stability and clearance. Regulators therefore treat glycan profiles as quality attributes that must be characterized and controlled during development and manufacturing, creating recurring analytical demand across antibody programs.

is already a large research-tools market, with spectroscopy-based products accounting for 44.1% of 2024 spending. Mass spectrometry remains a core workflow, while single-molecule approaches aim to reveal protein-to-protein variation that pooled measurements can miss in complex samples.

Global proteomics market, 2025–2030
$36.3B → $65.8B

Projected global proteomics market growth from 2025 to 2030, a 12.6% compound annual growth rate.

Spectroscopy share of proteomics, 2024
44.1%

Share of the 2024 proteomics market held by spectroscopy products, including mass spectrometry workflows.

Global monoclonal antibody market, 2025
$267.6B

Estimated 2025 market value for monoclonal antibodies, a major drug class requiring glycan characterization.

Approved antibodies with glycan data
209

FDA researchers analyzed glycan profiles and release specifications across 209 approved therapeutic antibodies.

Comparable Outcomes

Single-molecule protein tools

Quantum-Si

Nasdaq listing at ~$1.46B valuation

Quantum-Si developed a benchtop semiconductor platform for single-molecule protein analysis and sequencing, combining instruments, chips and consumables for life-science research. Quantum-Si listed on Nasdaq in June 2021 through its merger with HighCape Capital Acquisition Corp., which valued the combined company at about $1.46B.

Blood protein measurement

Olink Holding

IPO 2021, later acquired for $3.1B

Olink created a platform that measures thousands of proteins from small blood samples for pharmaceutical companies and research institutions. It offers a broader precedent for turning blood-based protein measurement into a valuable research and diagnostics platform. The company listed publicly in March 2021. Thermo Fisher completed its acquisition in July 2024 at an enterprise value of approximately $3.1 billion.

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Sources

This profile was built from public company materials, ecosystem sources, market references, and professional profiles.

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