# Cellares

Startup profile on Capital Atlas: https://capitalatlas.ai/startups/cellares

- Industry: Biotechnology
- Headquarters: South San Francisco, US
- Website: www.cellares.com
- Total disclosed funding: $683M
- Latest round: Series D (Jun 9, 2026)
- Investors on record: 22

## About

Based in California, US, and founded in 2019 by CEO Fabian Gerlinghaus and Omar Kurdi, Cellares Corp., a.k.a. Cellares operates as an integrated development and manufacturing organization (IDMO) that focuses on developing and manufacturing a cell shuttle to automate cell therapy. In June 2026, Cellares Corp. raised USD 50 million in series D funding led by Ark Invest, with participation from DC Global Ventures, Gates Foundation Trust, Baillie Gifford, BlackRock, DFJ Growth, Duquesne Family Office, Prime Radiant LLC, Eclipse Ventures, EDBI, Intuitive Ventures, T Rowe Price, and Willett Advisors. The round was part of a larger USD 327 million series D funding.


The company is developing a cell shuttle solution to overcome the limitations associated with manufacturing cell therapies for patients in need. Cellares' proprietary platform, Cell Shuttle, a modular and automated solution comprising hardware, software, robotics, and consumables, can produce 10 patient doses and enables end-to-end automation of the labor- and time-intensive process that creates cell therapies, including CAR-T, used to treat blood cancers by modifying and growing cells from the patient's own immune system to attack cancer cells. PACT Pharma and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center have joined Cellares' partnership program to participate in user studies, inform system specifications, and provide feedback on their platform to help ensure product-market fit.

Cellares generates revenue through its IDMO (Integrated Development and Manufacturing Organization) services, offering automated cell therapy manufacturing via the Cell Shuttle™ platform. Additional revenue streams include licensing its advanced manufacturing technology, selling proprietary consumable cartridges, and providing software solutions like Cell Q™ for process control and analytics.

The company will use the funding to build and expand automated cell therapy manufacturing facilities and support large-scale production.

## Funding rounds

- Series D, Jun 9, 2026, $70M — T Rowe Price, Gates Foundation Trust, Willett Advisors, BlackRock, Duquesne Family Office, DFJ Growth, Eclipse Ventures, Baillie Gifford, Ark Invest, Intuitive Ventures, EDBI, DC Global Ventures, Prime Radiant Partners
- Series D, Jan 28, 2026, $257M — BlackRock Private Equity Partners (PEP), T Rowe Price, Willett Advisors, Duquesne Family Office, DFJ Growth, Eclipse Ventures, Baillie Gifford, Intuitive Ventures, Gates Frontier, EDBI
- Series C, Jan 31, 2023, $256M — Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, Decheng Capital, DFJ Growth, Eclipse Ventures, 8VC, Koch Disruptive Technologies, Willett Advisors LLC
- Series B, Apr 12, 2021, $82M — Decheng Capital, Eclipse Ventures, 8VC, Skyviews Life Science
- Series A, Aug 1, 2019, $18M — EcoR1 Capital, Eclipse Ventures, 8VC

## Investors

- EcoR1 Capital (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/ecor1-capital) — Series A
- Eclipse Ventures (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/eclipse-ventures) — Series A, Series B, Series C, Series D
- 8VC (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/8vc) — Series A, Series B, Series C
- Decheng Capital (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/decheng-capital) — Series B, Series C
- Skyviews Life Science (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/skyviews-life-science) — Series B
- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company — Series C
- DFJ Growth (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/dfj-growth) — Series C, Series D
- Koch Disruptive Technologies (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/koch-disruptive-technologies) — Series C
- Willett Advisors LLC — Series C
- BlackRock Private Equity Partners (PEP) (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/blackrock-private-equity-partners-pep) — Series D
- T Rowe Price (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/t-rowe-price) — Series D
- Willett Advisors — Series D
- Duquesne Family Office — Series D
- Baillie Gifford (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/baillie-gifford) — Series D
- Intuitive Ventures (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/intuitive-ventures) — Series D
- Gates Frontier — Series D
- EDBI — Series D
- Gates Foundation Trust — Series D
- BlackRock (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/blackrock) — Series D
- Ark Invest (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/ark-invest) — Series D
- DC Global Ventures — Series D
- Prime Radiant Partners (https://capitalatlas.ai/funds/prime-radiant-partners) — Series D