Cellares
Cellares is the first Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization (IDMO) providing automated, industrial-scale cell therapy manufacturing services through its Cell Shuttle and Cell Q platforms.
- CEO / Founder
- Fabian Gerlinghaus
- Team Size
- 201-500
- Stage
- Growth Stage
- Total Funding
- $612M
- Latest Round
- Series D
- Key Investors
- BlackRock; Eclipse; ARK Invest; Koch Disruptive Technologies; T. Rowe Price Investment Management; Baillie Gifford; Bristol Myers Squibb; Decheng Capital; DFJ Growth; 8VC; Willett Advisors; Duquesne Family Office; Intuitive Ventures; EDBI; Gates Frontier; DC Global Ventures
Technology & Products
Key Products
Cell Shuttle (end-to-end automated cGMP cell therapy manufacturing platform); Cell Q (automated high-throughput QC platform for cell therapies); IDMO Smart Factories (global network of automated manufacturing facilities)
Technological Advantage
FDA Advanced Manufacturing Technology (AMT) designation for Cell Shuttle; 100% automation success rate across 12+ automated processes; 10x productivity vs. conventional CDMO facilities; 90% reduction in labor and facility footprint; software-defined manufacturing enabling instant global tech transfer; supports ~90% of cell therapy modalities (autologous and allogeneic)
Differentiation
Value Proposition
Cellares replaces manual, labor-intensive cell therapy manufacturing with fully automated, closed-system platforms that deliver up to 10x higher throughput, lower per-patient costs, and global scalability compared to conventional CDMOs.
How They Differentiate
Unlike conventional CDMOs that rely on manual processes, Cellares offers fully automated end-to-end manufacturing with the Cell Shuttle platform (FDA AMT-designated), achieving 10x productivity vs. traditional facilities. Their IDMO model vertically integrates technology development and manufacturing services, enabling software-defined manufacturing (SDM) for instant tech transfer across global Smart Factories.
Market & Competition
Target Customers
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies developing cell therapies (CAR-T, TCR-T, tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes, gene-edited cell therapies) — from academic institutions to large pharma
Industry Verticals
Cell Therapy; Oncology; Autoimmune; Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing
Competitors
Lonza (Switzerland); Catalent (US); Thermo Fisher Scientific (US) — Patheon CDMO services
Growth & Milestones
Growth Metrics
Raised $612M total; $380M BMS agreement; 4 Smart Factories globally (2 operational, 2 under construction); First GMP doses delivered to patients April 2026; 201-500 employees
Major Milestones
2019: Company founded; $18M Series A led by Eclipse; 2021: $82M Series B; 2023: $255M Series C led by Koch Disruptive Technologies; 2024: $380M global manufacturing agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb; 2025: Cell Shuttle receives FDA AMT designation; 2026: $277M Series D (incl. $20M from ARK Invest); First patients dosed with Cabaletta Bio's rese-cel manufactured on Cell Shuttle; 10-year commercial supply agreement with Cabaletta Bio
Notable Customers
Bristol Myers Squibb; Cabaletta Bio; Kite (a Gilead Company); Autolus Therapeutics; TScan Therapeutics; Lyell Immunopharma; Poseida Therapeutics; ProTgen