Cellex
Cellex SrL is a Rome-based Italian SME that designs and produces bioreactor systems — notably the BioAxFlow automated cell-seeding device and SUSPENCE — for tissue engineering, serving research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, medtech firms, and food research organizations across Europe.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2018
- HeadquartersRome, Italy
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingHardware or Manufacturing
What Cellex does
Cellex SrL, trading as Cellex Expansion Devices, is a privately-held Italian SME founded in 2018 and headquartered in Rome, with a secondary office in Wageningen, The Netherlands. The company designs, develops, and produces bioreactor systems for advanced cell culture and tissue engineering applications, serving research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, medical technology firms, and food research organizations. The firm operates with a small team — 4 named specialists against an 11–50 employee band — and is part of the Bio4Dreams biotech incubator ecosystem.
The company's product portfolio consists of two core bioreactor devices. BioAxFlow is an automated cell-seeding bioreactor that uses an external peristaltic pump and tubing to continuously circulate cell culture medium from the bottom of a vessel, lifting cells onto scaffolds and enabling uniform distribution for 3D cell culture. The device supports scaffolds of multiple geometries and is positioned around seven stated innovative characteristics. SUSPENCE is a complementary tissue engineering bioreactor. BioAxFlow has been validated in laboratory operating conditions at CNR (Italy's National Research Council) and is progressing through an industrialization phase ahead of broader commercial release. No patents, certifications, or third-party regulatory approvals are disclosed in the available data.
Cellex generates revenue primarily through one-time hardware sales of its bioreactor devices, supplemented by customization and professional services for customer-specific applications. The go-to-market motion is B2B enterprise field sales targeting scientific, medical, pharmaceutical, and food research buyers, distributed regionally through direct engagement, website contact forms, and collaborations with scientific institutes. No public pricing is disclosed, no external investors beyond Lazio Innova and Opstart are recorded, and total disclosed funding is approximately $1.1M across two rounds in 2020 and 2022.
Cellex firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cellex
- Legal name
- Cellex SrL
- Website
- https://cellex.it
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2018
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Cellex SrL is a Rome-based Italian SME that designs and produces bioreactor systems — notably the BioAxFlow automated cell-seeding device and SUSPENCE — for tissue engineering, serving research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, medtech firms, and food research organizations across Europe.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cellex industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Bioreactor Systems for Tissue Engineering
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Research and Development in the Physical, Engineering, and Life Sciences (54171)
- SIC
- Surgical & Medical Instruments & Apparatus (3841), Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cell Culture & Bioprocess Lab Equipment (Bioreactors, Single-Use Systems, Controllers) (HLAGAIAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- 3D Bioprinting & Biofabrication (HLAAAGAC)
Keywords
Where Cellex is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Rome
- HQ country
- Italy
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices4 records
Markets served
Cellex business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Hardware or Manufacturing
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales
Revenue model
- Bioreactor Hardware Sales: Sale of bioreactor devices (BioAxFlow, SUSPENCE) to research institutions, pharmaceutical companies, and medical technology firms for tissue engineering applications.
- Related Services: Customization services and innovative solutions for customer needs. The company provides customized products and services tailored to specific customer requirements.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels5 records
Cellex product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cellex SrL designs, develops, and produces bioreactor devices (BioAxFlow and SUSPENCE) specifically for tissue engineering applications. The BioAxFlow bioreactor enables automated cell seeding on scaffolds of different geometries, generating uniform cell distribution for 3D cell culture. The company also provides customization services and innovative solutions tailored to specific customer research needs.
Product overview
Cellex SrL is an innovative Italian company based in Rome that designs, develops, and produces bioreactors specifically for tissue engineering applications. The company's product portfolio consists of two main bioreactor devices: BioAxFlow and SUSPENCE. BioAxFlow is an automated cell seeding bioreactor that enables 3D cell culture with uniform cell distribution on scaffolds using a peristaltic pump system. SUSPENCE is another tissue engineering bioreactor in their product family. Both products serve the advanced cell culture and tissue engineering markets, with BioAxFlow having been validated at Italy's National Research Council (CNR) and progressing toward industrialization.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- BioAxFlow: Bioreactor device where cell culture medium is continuously pumped into a vessel from the bottom, lifting cells up for cell seeding on scaffolds.
- SUSPENCE
Products and services
- BioAxFlow
- SUSPENCE
- Customized Bioreactor Services
Quantifiable outcome
- Validated in laboratory conditions at CNR before industrialization phase
Companies that use Cellex
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Cellex technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Cellex partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- CNR (National Research Council of Italy)coreCNR (National Research Council of Italy) is the largest public research institution in Italy. BioAxFlow has been validated in laboratory operating conditions at CNR before its industrialization phase, representing a key validation partnership for the technology.
- Bio4Dreams EcosystemminorCellex is part of the Bio4Dreams Ecosystem, a startup incubator/support network for biotechnology companies. Displayed as an ecosystem badge on the company website.
Scale indicators3 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Cellex competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Sartorius: Global bioprocess equipment leader offering a broad bioreactor portfolio for cell and gene therapy, vaccine, and tissue-engineering workflows. Overlaps with Cellex as a supplier of bioreactor systems for advanced cell culture, but at vastly larger scale and scope.
- Eppendorf: Established manufacturer of laboratory bioreactors and cell-culture equipment serving life-science research and biopharma. Competes with Cellex in providing bioreactor hardware for research and process-development labs, though its catalog spans many other product lines.
- Thermo Fisher Scientific: Diversified life-science tools giant with bioreactor systems, single-use bioprocess products, and cell-culture consumables. Overlaps with Cellex in serving tissue-engineering and 3D cell-culture research, but as part of a much broader catalog.
- Merck KGaA (Life Science): Major supplier of bioprocessing and cell-culture products, including bioreactor systems and cell-line development tools. Comparable to Cellex in targeting advanced cell-culture workflows from bioprocess research through manufacturing.
- CellGenix: Supplier of cell-culture reagents, GMP cytokines, and cell-therapy manufacturing tools. Tangentially comparable to Cellex as a vendor into cell-therapy and tissue-engineering manufacturing workflows, though its primary offering is consumables rather than bioreactor hardware.
Emerging players
- RegenHU: Swiss developer of 3D bioprinters and bio fabrication systems for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. Comparable niche focus on hardware that automates and standardizes advanced 3D cell culture, addressing similar research customers as Cellex.
- Organovo: Pioneer in 3D bioprinted human tissue constructs for research and therapeutic applications. Overlaps with Cellex in tissue-engineering tooling and the broader regenerative-medicine research market, though Organovo focuses on bioprinted tissues rather than bioreactor hardware.
- TissueLabs: Startup commercializing bioprinting and tissue-engineering platforms for drug discovery and regenerative medicine. Closely comparable in scale and stage to Cellex, and addresses overlapping research and pharma customers with adjacent biofabrication tooling.
- Poietis: French bioprinting company developing laser-assisted 3D tissue-printing systems for pharmaceutical and cosmetic R&D. Comparable to Cellex in providing advanced tissue-engineering instrumentation to research labs, with partial overlap in target use cases.
- 3D Biotek: Specialist in 3D cell-culture and tissue-engineering tools, including scaffold-based culture systems. Closely comparable niche player serving similar research customers with related 3D-culture and scaffold-handling capabilities.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Cellex social profiles
Digital presenceCellex financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cellex leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Cellex funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds2 records
Investors2 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cellex M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cellex
What does Cellex do?
Cellex SrL designs, develops, and produces bioreactor devices (BioAxFlow and SUSPENCE) specifically for tissue engineering applications. The BioAxFlow bioreactor enables automated cell seeding on scaffolds of different geometries, generating uniform cell distribution for 3D cell culture. The company also provides customization services and innovative solutions tailored to specific customer research needs.
Is Cellex a public or private company?
Cellex is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Cellex founded?
Cellex was founded in 2018. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Cellex based?
Cellex is headquartered in Rome, Italy, in the Europe region.
How does Cellex make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Bioreactor Hardware Sales are the primary driver. The others are related Services.
Who are Cellex's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Sartorius, Eppendorf, Thermo Fisher Scientific, Merck KGaA (Life Science) and CellGenix. Emerging players are RegenHU, Organovo, TissueLabs, Poietis and 3D Biotek.
Does Cellex have an API?
No public API is recorded for Cellex.
What industry is Cellex in?
Cellex's product category is Bioreactor Systems for Tissue Engineering. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAIAG, Cell Culture & Bioprocess Lab Equipment (Bioreactors, Single-Use Systems, Controllers), with a secondary code of HLAAAGAC, 3D Bioprinting & Biofabrication. Its NAICS code is 541714 and its SIC code is 3841.