CellFE

CellFE is a private, pre-revenue biotech company founded in 2017 and based in Alameda, California. It has developed the Ryva™ Mechanoporation System, a benchtop platform that uses microfluidic physical force to deliver genetic payloads into cells, aiming to replace viral vectors and electroporation. The technology promises high cell viability, scalability, and faster manufacturing times, targeting the significant cost and scalability challenges in the cell therapy industry. The company is led by a team with deep expertise in engineering and microfluidics and is backed by a $22M Series A round led by M Ventures.

Microfluidics-based mechanoporation for non-viral intracellular delivery of genetic payloads (e.g., CRISPR, mRNA, large DNA) into cells for cell therapy manufacturing.

CellFE competes in the non-viral cell engineering space against companies using electroporation (e.g., MaxCyte, Lonza), other microfluidic methods, and chemical transfection. Its differentiation lies in its mechanoporation approach, which claims superior cell health and ability to handle large payloads compared to electroporation, and greater efficiency and scalability than chemical methods.