Cellbox raises €3.5 million for warm-chain logistics of living cells
Technology company strengthens management team with former Evotec manager for international expansion in cell and gene therapy
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Cellbox Solutions announced the first closing of its Series A financing round, raising approximately EUR 3.5 million. The round is led by the digital business angel network Companisto, together with existing investors, including NRW.BANK. The new capital will be used to expand international production and sales activities and to unlock additional application areas, particularly in cell and gene therapy as well as in vitro fertilization (IVF). In addition, the management team is strategically strengthened with the appointment of Dr. Bernd Muehlenweg to further drive growth and scalability. This is the first closing of a Series A financing round which remains open for other tranches until May 2026.
Cellbox™ develops portable CO₂ incubators for the safe transport of living cell samples. Its patented warm-chain technology enables continuously controlled shipment conditions for up to 48 hours, preserving cell viability and functionality during transport. The systems are certified and compliant with IATA regulations for air transport. More than 300 devices are already in use worldwide by leading customers in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, applied research institutions, and universities.
A key component of this next growth phase is the appointment of Dr. Bernd Muehlenweg as Chief Business Officer (CBO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Cellbox™. He joins the company full-time with more than 20 years of international experience in the life sciences industry. Most recently, Dr. Muehlenweg served as Senior Vice President and Global Head of Business Development, Cell Therapy at Evotec, where he led international commercial and strategic partnership activities in the advanced therapy space.
“Cellbox™ is setting a new benchmark in the transportation of living cells. By enabling safe, controlled, and reproducible transport under physiological conditions, we address a critical bottleneck in the life sciences industry. The investment round marks an important milestone in expanding our international footprint and establishing Cellbox™ as a global infrastructure standard for living cell shipment and warm-chain logistics. Our patented platform and strong regulatory positioning provide an excellent foundation for global scale-up across multiple life sciences applications, including the rapidly growing field of cell and gene therapies. I look forward to further strengthening our commercial operations, expanding our service portfolio, and building the organizational structures required to support the next phase of international growth,” commented Dr. Bernd Muehlenweg, CBO & CFO of Cellbox Solutions GmbH.
Dr. Bernd Muehlenweg
Cellbox Solutions GmbH
“Cellbox™ addresses a structural gap in the life sciences value chain: the reliable transport of living cells at physiological conditions. As advanced therapies scale globally, logistics becomes a critical success factor. We view Cellbox™ not as an incremental product innovation, but as a scalable platform with the potential to redefine how sensitive biological materials are transported across research and clinical environments,” added Dr. Robin Ghosh, Investment Manager at Companisto.
Companisto will actively support Cellbox™ in its next growth phase. As a fully digitalized business angel network, Companisto contributes not only capital but also targeted strategic expertise to international scaling.
“Our vision is to redefine how living cells are transported globally. With the continued support of our investors and the strengthening of our leadership team with a highly experienced executive, we are building the foundation for long-term international growth and expanding the reach of warm-chain logistics across clinical and research applications. We are convinced that reliable live-cell transport will become an essential component of the global life sciences value chain,” concluded Prof. Dr. Kathrin Adlkofer, Founder and CEO of Cellbox™.
In the long term, Cellbox™ aims to establish warm-chain logistics as the preferred global approach for transporting living cells, cell therapies, and sensitive biological materials, further advancing reliability and reproducibility across the life sciences sector.
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Topic world Gene therapy
Genetic diseases once considered untreatable are now at the center of innovative therapeutic approaches. Research and development of gene therapies in biotech and pharma aim to directly correct or replace defective or missing genes to combat disease at the molecular level. This revolutionary approach promises not only to treat symptoms, but to eliminate the cause of the disease itself.