Reinventing Lab Operations: How UniteLabs Is Building the Connected Laboratory of the Future

What does it take to truly digitalize and automate the modern laboratory? At the 5-HT Innovators Club in Karlsruhe, UniteLabs captivated the audience with a bold answer: seamless connectivity. In our conversation with Lukas Bromig and Robert Zechlin, the Co-CEOs and Founders of the Munich-based startup, we explore how their platform is breaking down silos, orchestrating workflows, and enabling researchers to focus on science rather than manual tasks.

Dive into our interview to discover how UniteLabs envisions the laboratory of tomorrow - and how close it already is.

How would you explain your solution in three sentences to a professional colleague in a chemical/pharmaceutical company or other potential client?

UniteLabs lets you scale lab automation like software, in pure Python code. It is a vendor‑agnostic software platform that connects lab instruments, LIMS/ELNs, and data systems to automate experiments and data flow. Our USP is fast, cross‑vendor integration via ready‑made connectors, that replace proprietary software with pure Python. It works by orchestrating devices and workflows in one API-first platform: configure steps, run jobs, track samples, and capture results automatically.

Lukas Bromig using the UniteLabs solution

What problem motivated you to start the company?

During my PhD in industrial biotechnology at TUM, I kept hitting the same wall: lab instruments and software couldn’t talk to each other, forcing teams to waste months on brittle, one‑off integrations. I built an early prototype to connect devices to build a sustainable integration layer as foundation. Demand from labs and industry poured in, highlighting a broader infrastructure gap. Robert Zechlin, Julian Willan and I founded UniteLabs to solve interoperability at the root with a vendor‑agnostic platform, shaped by standardization work (e.g., SiLA 2) and real lab pain.

How do you convince a chemical/pharmaceutical company or another potential client to set up a pilot project with you?

We make labs scalable and AI-ready.

Traditional lab automation was designed for manufacturing, not science. Built to repeat a single output endlessly. To adapt, researchers have relied on one-off custom solutions, which work for isolated use cases, but fail in dynamic scientific environments that demand flexibility and rapid iteration. The result: unscalable workarounds that slow down progress.

We’re changing that with infrastructure purpose-built for data-driven automation. Our platform replaces black-box proprietary software with pure Python, enabling bidirectional connectivity to lab instruments and an API-first architecture that integrates seamlessly with any other application.

Our scalable approach allows labs to start small, a proof of concept with one or a few instruments, and expand effortlessly to full lab or multi-site automation, often before the initial POC is even complete.

Unlike other startups that remain closed, unscalable, or disconnected from AI, we take a fundamentally new approach. We work closely with instrument vendors to ensure compatibility and maintain warranty agreements when using our technology, something few others can offer.

Who are your current customer (groups) and who do you want your potential customers to be?

Current customers: AI-driven biotech startups and scaleups, automation-heavy pharma teams, and integrators/instrument vendors using our vendor-agnostic OS for liquid handling and workflow automation.

Target customers: mid-to-large pharma and biopharma platforms, CDMOs/CROs, cloud labs, and regulated labs seeking cross-vendor automation and AI‑ready infrastructure.

Markets: Active in the Netherlands, Belgium and the United States with paid deployments and pilots. Planned expansion across Europe, and deeper U.S. enterprise rollouts.

Where do you see yourself in 3 years and how can 5-HT support you?

Our goal is to empower scientists to fully harness the power of AI and automation, accelerating discoveries that will improve lives.

While our mission is global, we want to also strengthen innovation and support companies that drive science here in Germany. During the event, we explored numerous biofoundry initiatives abroad. With the right support to fund ambitious initiatives, 5-HT has the opportunity not only to catch up, but to establish Germany as a pioneer in next-generation biotechnology.

You participated in the 5-HT Innovators Club in September 2025. What is your impression of the event and what have you gained (so far) from participating?

Fantastic energy at the 5‑HT Innovators’ Club and big thanks to 5‑HT Chemistry & Health and Alex Boeser for a timely, well‑curated forum. The core takeaway: everyone wants closed‑loop AI, but there’s a gap between models in the cloud and hardware at the bench. That’s exactly what UniteLabs solves with an OS that turns AI protocols into reproducible execution. We left with valuable connections and follow‑ups with teams at BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim, Agilent, Zeiss, and KIT.

Robert Zechlin presenting UniteLabs at the 5-HT Innovators Club "Lab Digitalization and Automation" 2025 in Karlsruhe