From semi-permeable capsules to engineered yeast: check out five promising startups that could ride the soaring single-cell sequencing market.
Researchers have been quantifying gene expression in cells for decades using traditional approaches like real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR), whereas single-cell sequencing has only emerged in the last 20 years.
Unlike RT-PCR, single-cell sequencing allows investigators to explore the entire genome of a cell, generating rich datasets to understand disease in more depth.
Technological advances in genomics are driving rapid growth in the market for single-cell sequencing, which is expected to climb by 15% per year, from $2.8 billion in 2025 to $9.9 billion in 2034. However, the high costs of single-cell sequencing methods generally limit the uptake of the technology, with users navigating trade-offs between analyzing single cells and using broader spatial methods.
Alongside key players like Thermo Fisher Scientific, 10x Genomics, and Illumina, newer players are gunning to enter the space, including Parse Biosciences and Singleron Biotechnologies. There is also wide industry interest in startups developing technology based on single-cell sequencing, especially in the U.S., with the acquisition of Fluxion Biosciences by Cell Microsystems in 2023 and the takeover of Fluent BioSciences by Illumina in 2024.
Many smaller startups are using single-cell sequencing to develop therapies and democratize access to users across the life sciences by lowering cost and scaling barriers. See our list of the top five rising stars in the field, with a focus on those at the Series A stage and below.
1. Alethiomics
Founded: 2021 | Headquarters: Oxford, U.K.
Alethiomics was spun out of the University of Oxford, U.K., by two hematology professors and launched with £6 million ($8 million) in seed funding from Oxford Science Enterprises.
The company—whose name includes the Greek word for “truth” (aletheia)—is focused on a group of blood cancers called myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs), which arise from mutations in bone marrow stem cells. There are currently no treatments for MPNs that can eliminate the stem cells that drive the disease.
To overcome this challenge, Alethiomics crunches transcriptomic and proteomic data from cancer stem cells to pinpoint disease targets for treatments like antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), which consist of an antibody chemically attached to a toxic drug.
Last year, Alethiomics secured seed extension financing and is in an optimization phase for its lead program. The company aims to nominate a candidate by the end of the year and to be in the clinic by 2027. The firm also plans to land research collaboration deals to spur the development of its pipeline.
2. Atrandi Biosciences
Founded: 2016 (previously Droplet Genomics) | Headquarters: Vilnius, Lithuania
Atrandi—which means “you discover” in Lithuanian—was founded to bridge a gap between two traditional methods of single-cell sequencing: droplet-based microfluidics and plate-based methods.
Droplet-based methods allow the processing of thousands of cells at a time in tiny capsules but with limited libraries of molecules per cell. Plate-based methods let users analyze cells in tiny wells in close detail but with less throughput.
Atrandi has developed semi-permeable capsules (SPCs) that are formed by mixing two polymers in a microfluidic chip. The capsules sequester cells and nucleic acids while proteins and small molecules enter and leave the capsule freely. This allows users to process cells in a single tube and generate complex datasets from each cell.
The company’s products include the Flux microfluidic device to encapsulate cells in SPCs, the Onyx droplet generator, and Styx, a high-throughput device that uses fluorescence to screen and sort droplets.
Atrandi raised $4.8 million in a seed round in 2023, followed by a $25 million Series A round in February this year. The A round was led by Lux Capital and will help the startup bankroll its expansion into the U.S. market, with the goal of setting up a base in Boston. Atrandi also aims to further develop its technology and launch new products into the market.
3. BioSkryb
Founded: 2018 | Headquarters: Durham, North Carolina
BioSkryb was founded based on the licensing of single-cell genomics technology from a group at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. In 2020, the company raised $11.5 million in seed funding led by Anzu Partners to accelerate product development and commercialization.
The company’s technology platform, dubbed Primary Template-directed Amplification (PTA), is designed to capture more than 95% of the genome of a single cell and detect variations in the genome more accurately and cheaply than existing methods.
BioSkryb’s offerings using PTA include its ResolveOME™ whole genome and transcriptome amplification kit, ResolveDNA® genome sequencing kit, and BaseJumper platform to analyze the data from the kits. The firm also launched the ResolveSEQ MRD service this year to characterize residual cancer cells that remain after treatment, helping users understand how cancer cells resist treatment.
In the last few months, BioSkryb inked a deal with the U.S.-based Ultima Genomics to collaborate and run a joint grant program to advance cancer research with free sequencing. BioSkryb also teamed up with the Swiss company Tecan Group to add more automation and speed to its ResolveOME product.
4. Partillion Bioscience
Founded: 2020 | Headquarters: Los Angeles, California
Partillion was co-founded by a microfluidics researcher at the University of California, Los Angeles, as his team grappled with a key problem with existing lab-on-a-chip devices: the gadgets involved tend to be expensive and hard to use in a commercial setting.
In response, the company developed a so-called “lab-on-a-particle” in the form of hydrogel-based capsules called nanovials. The capsules have a cavity that can hold a single cell and capture a protein secretion of interest. Researchers can then cheaply use existing equipment such as flow cytometers to sort hundreds of thousands of cells captured within the capsules and analyze their behavior and genetics.
Partillion now offers a range of kits for single-cell analysis and custom research services. The startup also launched kits for accelerating antibody discovery in 2023, and can help cell therapy developers predict the potency of their candidates.
In the same year, Partillion raised $5 million in a seed financing round with new investors like ND Capital, Vertical Venture Partners, and Paladin Capital. The firm also sealed a pact with Alloy Therapeutics that would allow the latter to carry out antibody discovery services using Partillion’s nanovial technology.
5. Sampling Human
Founded: 2016 | Headquarters: Berkeley, California
The techbio player, Sampling Human, was first founded in the Czech Republic before branching out to the U.S. to benefit from the entrepreneurial spirit of the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sampling Human genetically engineers yeasts to detect and classify specific cells such as cancer cells hidden within millions of other cells. They also allow users to measure RNA and protein levels in the target cells.
This has the potential to supercharge liquid biopsies—the ability to detect cancer cells in the blood—by making them faster and more precise. Unlike traditional approaches, it does not require expensive equipment and specialist staff to use.
Sampling Human raised $2 million in 2022 in a round led by i&i Biotech Fund to fuel its research and hire new staff.
The startup sent out its first biocytometry kits to early-access customers last year to help researchers and students measure apoptotic cells present in complex samples.
Jonathan Smith, PhD, is a freelance science journalist based in the U.K. and Spain. He previously worked in Berlin as reporter and news editor at Labiotech, a website covering the biotech industry. Prior to this, he completed a PhD in behavioral neurobiology at the University of Leicester and freelanced for the U.K. organizations Research Media and Society of Experimental Biology. He has also written for medwireNews, Biopharma Reporter, and Outsourcing Pharma.
