BioThrust's EIC Accelerator Bioreactor Breathes Like a Lung

Stem cells and immune cells used as medicines are fragile. They are sensitive to the shear forces of stirring, and cultivation is typically limited to small volumes of about two litres, because conventional stirred tanks, wave bags and vertical wheel bioreactors are poorly suited to industrial scale, according to the CORDIS summary of BioThrust's EIC project. That is one reason cell therapies are expensive. BioThrust, a 2022 spin-off of RWTH Aachen University, builds a bioreactor that imitates the human lung: oxygen reaches the cells through a membrane, without bubbles.

The EIC Accelerator selected the project, ComfyCell, at its October 2024 cut-off for blended finance, and CORDIS records a grant of €2,496,897 from September 2025 to August 2027 to validate the bioreactor at industrial scale in pilot programmes. In April 2026 BioThrust closed a pre-seed extension to fund international pilot studies. No pilot result has been published.

A bioreactor modelled on the lung

BioThrust was founded in 2022 by Patrick Bongartz, Konstantin Kurz and Moritz Meyer, according to deutsche-startups.de, and it says its bionic bioreactor is meant to make stem cell therapies affordable and scalable. The reactor combines an artificial lung, which supplies gas without bubbles through a membrane, with a patented membrane stirrer, Startbase reported.

In January 2024 Frank Thelen's fund Freigeist Capital invested a seven-figure amount, StartupRise reported, with CEO Bongartz describing the goal as "a universal cell multiplication platform". The money was for a larger team and test projects with partners.

ComfyCell: from lab to industrial pilots

The EIC project targets the cells behind therapies for cancer, neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases: induced pluripotent stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, natural killer cells and T cells. ComfyCell is to show that the bioreactor scales beyond today's small volumes while keeping the cells in a gentle environment, and to produce case studies and cost savings for early adopters through industrial-scale pilot programmes.

CORDIS shows no periodic report yet, and the project page has not been updated since June 2025. BioThrust's own claims of record results in stem cell production, as Startbase reported them, have not been backed by published data.

1. Bubble-free bioreactor platformIn developmentComfyCell described as in development in April 2026.
2. Industrial-scale pilot programmesFundedInternational pilot studies financed by the 2026 round; no results.
3. Case studies for early adoptersNot yetNo customer or case study published.
4. Project completion by August 2027Too earlyNo periodic report on CORDIS yet.

Undisclosed rounds

On 24 April 2026 the law firm Heuking announced that it had advised BioThrust on a pre-seed extension: existing shareholders RWTH Aachen and Freigeist were joined by ALAGO, NRW.BANK, Theo Bongartz and several business angels. The amount was not disclosed. Whether the EIC Fund has invested the equity part of the blended award is not public, and BioThrust's German accounts were not obtained for this article.

Cheaper cell therapies made in Europe

Cell and gene therapies are hard to access because of high production costs and long innovation cycles, as the Heuking announcement puts it. A German bioreactor that grows these cells at scale would help European therapy developers and manufacturers, and the EIC grant pays for the pilots that have to prove it. Until those pilots report, ComfyCell is a promising design rather than a validated production tool.