Nanion Technologies GmbH

What Nanion Technologies GmbH does

Nanion Technologies GmbH is a Munich-based privately held instrumentation company founded in 2002 by Niels Fertig (CEO) and Michael George (CTO) around the planar patch clamp technology Fertig developed and published that year. The company designs and manufactures automated electrophysiology systems used in ion channel research, drug discovery, and cardiac safety assessment, with a product portfolio spanning automated patch clamp platforms (Port-a-Patch, Port-a-Patch mini, Patchlinere, Patchlinerm, SyncroPatch 384), solid supported membrane (SSM) systems for membrane transporter analysis (SURFE²R N1, SURFE²R 96SE), bilayer workstations (Orbit mini, Orbit 16 TC, Vesicle Prep Pro), and impedance-based cell analytics (CardioExcyte 96, FLEXcyte 96, AtlaZ). Underlying platforms are differentiated by miniaturization, throughput (up to 384 simultaneous recordings), and label-free real-time measurement modalities.

The company serves academic researchers, contract research organizations (CROs), and pharmaceutical companies across more than twenty years of continuous operation, with wholly owned subsidiaries and embedded university facilities in the United States (Nanion Inc., established 2009 in New Jersey), Denmark (Copenhagen University site, 2016), Japan (Nanion KK within TWIns, 2017; relocated to University of Tokyo in 2025), and China (Nanion Technologies China). Revenue is generated through sale of scientific instruments, recurring consumables (chips, plates, buffer solutions), and service and support contracts, with pricing conducted via customized quotes through a direct enterprise field-sales motion supplemented by regional distributors and a BioTools service alliance for Australia.

Manufacturing, assembly, engineering, science, and software development are co-located at the Munich headquarters at Ganghoferstr. 70a, enabling tight integration of R&D and production. The company has won multiple innovation awards, including the Deutscher Gründerpreis (2009) and a Deutscher Zukunftspreis nomination (2014), and is recognized as a key player in both automated patch clamp and Micro Electrode Array markets. Recent activity includes the July 2023 launch of AtlaZ live-cell analysis, the April 2024 integration of Elements' microchip amplifier technology into Patchlinere/Patchlinerm, the August 2024 BioTools Australia service alliance, and the 2024 appointment of a Director of Global Sales drawn from Beckman Coulter.

Name

Nanion Technologies GmbH

Legal name

Nanion Technologies GmbH

Website

https://nanion.de

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Nanion Technologies GmbH is a Munich-based private instrumentation company designing and manufacturing automated patch clamp, solid supported membrane electrophysiology, and cell analytics systems for ion channel research, drug discovery, and cardiac safety, serving academic, CRO, and pharmaceutical customers globally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Munich

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain

Revenue model

1. Scientific Instrumentation Hardware: Sale of automated patch clamp systems, membrane biophysics instruments, and cell analytics platforms including Port-a-Patch, Patchliner, SyncroPatch 384, Orbit systems, SURFE²R platforms, CardioExcyte 96, FLEXcyte 96, and AtlaZ.
2. Consumables: Recurring revenue from chips, plates, buffer solutions and reagents required for instrument operation and experiments.
3. Service and Support: Technical support, scientific support, service support, and training courses for instrument maintenance and proper usage.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Nanion Technologies GmbH develops and manufactures automated electrophysiology instrumentation, including automated patch clamp systems, solid supported membrane electrophysiology (SSME) platforms, cell analytics impedance readers, and contractility instruments. The company also sells consumables such as cells, buffers, microchips and software that supports its instruments, serving pharmaceutical companies, contract research organizations (CROs), and academic researchers worldwide.

Product overview

Nanion Technologies GmbH offers a comprehensive portfolio of electrophysiology instrumentation organized across three main categories: Automated Patch Clamp, Membrane Biophysics, and Cell Analytics. The Automated Patch Clamp category includes the Port-a-Patch (world's smallest patch clamp), Port-a-Patch mini (cost-effective version), Patchlinere (next-generation versatile platform), Patchlinerm (fast and flexible system), SyncroPatch 384 (high-throughput screening system), and Buffer solutions. The Membrane Biophysics category features the Orbit mini and Orbit 16 TC (bilayer recording platforms), Vesicle Prep Pro (GUV production), and SURFE²R N1 and SURFE²R 96SE (solid supported membrane systems for transporter analysis). The Cell Analytics category includes CardioExcyte 96 and FLEXcyte 96 (cardiomyocyte analysis with contractility and field potential measurements) and AtlaZ (advanced label-free live-cell analysis system). These products work together to provide researchers with tools for ion channel research, drug discovery, cardiac safety assessment, and cellular analysis across academic and pharmaceutical applications.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• SURFE²R: Solid supported membrane (SSM) technology platform for screening membrane transporters and pumps, including SURFE²R N1 and SURFE²R 96SE products.
• AtlaZ
• Patchliner

Products and services

• Port-a-Patch A miniaturized manual patch clamp workstation for single-cell electrophysiology recordings, used by academic researchers and pharmaceutical scientists studying ion channels and membrane transporters.
• Port-a-Patch mini An entry-level, compact manual patch clamp device designed as a cost-effective alternative for fast and easy patch clamping, targeting academic researchers and teaching environments.
• Patchlinere An automated patch clamp system for high-quality gigaseal recordings on up to 8 cells simultaneously, incorporating Nanion's Elements microchip-based amplifier technology for ion channel research.
• Patchlinerm A higher-throughput automated patch clamp system based on Elements microchip technology for medium-scale ion channel screening in drug discovery and academic research.
• SyncroPatch 384 A 384-well automated patch clamp instrument for ultra-high-throughput ion channel screening used by pharmaceutical companies and CROs in drug safety and lead optimization workflows.
• Orbit mini A miniaturized impedance-based cell analyzer for parallel recordings of cell-substrate interactions, suited to smaller labs and contractility research.
• Orbit 16 TC A 16-well impedance-based cell analyzer with temperature control for high-resolution monitoring of cell-substrate interactions, contraction, and barrier function.
• Vesicle Prep Pro An instrument for easy and reproducible generation of proteoliposomes used in solid supported membrane electrophysiology experiments on transporters and pumps.
• SURFE²R N1 A single-well solid supported membrane electrophysiology instrument for studying membrane transporters and pumps using SSME technology, targeted at academic and industrial research on solute carriers.
• SURFE²R 96SE A high-throughput 96-well solid supported membrane electrophysiology platform for studying electrogenic transporters and pumps in drug discovery and academic research.
• CardioExcyte 96 A combined impedance and extracellular field potential recording system for label-free cardiac safety assessment of drug compounds in human iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes.
• FLEXcyte 96 A 96-well instrument for measuring contractile force of cardiac and skeletal muscle cells cultured on flexible substrates, used in cardiac safety and contractility research.
• AtlaZ An automated patch clamp instrument built on Nanion's Elements amplifier microchip technology, designed for medium-throughput ion channel recordings.
• Cells and Reagents A consumables product line including cells, buffers, microchips, and SSME-based reagents used with Nanion instruments for electrophysiology and cell analytics experiments.

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• BioToolsminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 27 August 2024Strategic alliance to improve service and technical support for customers in Australia. BioTools handles installations, service visits and planned maintenance for Nanion instruments in all eastern states of Australia, minimizing response time and downtime.
• ElementscoreTechnology or Integration · 16 April 2024Nanion & Elements integration of Elements' cutting-edge microchip-based amplifier technology into Nanion's newly launched Patchlinere & Patchlinerm platforms, powering the next generation of Patchliner instruments.
• Beckman Coulter Life SciencescoreTechnology or Integration · 11 December 2023Celebrating 10 years of successful partnership (2013-2023). Beckman Coulter integrated Nanion's patch clamp module into their Biomek automated workstations, enabling high-throughput screening applications.
• TWIns (Tokyo Women's Medical University - Waseda University Joint Institution for Advanced Biomedical Sciences)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2017Nanion KK established in 2017 within the prestigious TWIns institution, marking Nanion's expansion into Japan and enabling scientific collaborations in the Japanese market.
• Copenhagen UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2016Nanion opened a fully equipped facility within Copenhagen University in June 2016 for scientific collaborations, assay development support and product demonstrations.
• innoVitrocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTechnology development projects and joint commercialization partnership. innoVitro provides cell analytics services using Nanion platforms. Testimonial indicates collaborative agile approach and customer orientation.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves10 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Sophion Bioscience (Bruker): Sophion, now part of Bruker, is one of the leading direct competitors in automated patch clamp electrophysiology with the QPatch and Qube systems serving pharma and CRO ion channel screening — the same buyer and use case as Nanion's SyncroPatch 384 and Patchliner.
• Axion BioSystems: Axion BioSystems is explicitly identified as a key Nanion competitor in the Micro Electrode Array market, providing MEA-based cardiotoxicity, neural, and disease-modeling platforms that overlap with CardioExcyte 96 and AtlaZ applications in pharma and academic labs.
• Multi Channel Systems MCS GmbH: Multi Channel Systems is listed alongside Nanion as a key MEA market competitor, offering MEA chips, amplifiers, and recording systems for electrophysiology and cardiac safety research with overlapping customer accounts in pharma and academia.
• 3Brain AG: 3Brain AG is named as a key Nanion competitor in the MEA market, supplying complementary high-resolution MEA platforms for cardiac and neural recording, creating direct overlap with Nanion's impedance- and field-potential-based cell analytics products.

Broad incumbents

• Molecular Devices (Danaher): Molecular Devices, part of Danaher, offers the IonWorks and PatchXpress automated patch clamp platforms alongside a much broader portfolio of high-content imaging, microplate readers, and cell analytics — competing with Nanion in pharma screening while serving far larger adjacent markets.

Emerging players

• Blackrock Neurotech: Blackrock Neurotech is listed as a key competitor in the MEA market, focused primarily on neural and brain-computer-interface applications — a partial overlap with Nanion's electrophysiology platforms rather than a head-to-head competitor in ion channel drug discovery.
• Tecella LLC: Tecella is a smaller automated patch clamp competitor offering the PatchServer and Triton systems for ion channel research, providing overlapping functionality to Nanion's Patchliner and SyncroPatch 384 at the lower-throughput end of the market.

Others

• Charles River Laboratories: Charles River is a large CRO that buys and uses electrophysiology and cell analytics instruments like Nanion's for contract safety pharmacology and ion channel screening services — a key customer/adopter of Nanion-class technology rather than a direct instrument competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nanion-technologies

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Nanion Technologies GmbH