Objective
Biomanufacturing - the backbone of Europe’s sustainable bioeconomy - is slowed by the long, resource-intensive process of cell factory design. Developing microbial strains for food additives, biomedicines, enzymes or bio-based materials takes months, as most biolabs still rely on manual or robotic plate assays with limited throughput, high reagent use and labour cost. Droplet microfluidics can accelerate these workflows by compartmentalising reactions into millions of pico- to nanolitre droplets for massively parallel screening. However, existing droplet-assisted systems are expensive (>€250k), energy-intensive, and difficult to customise, limiting adoption by SMEs, startups and academic labs.
DROPLETFACTORY by CogniFlow OÜ addresses these barriers with a modular, flexible and transparent droplet-assisted cell factory design automation platform. It delivers 1000x higher throughput and up to 10x lower energy use than plate assays, while being 2–5x more affordable than commercial droplet platforms. The system encapsulates, incubates, reads and sorts cell variants at up to 1000 Hz, with each droplet acting as a miniature bioreactor. Built on the CogniFlow® hardware-software platform, it integrates pumps, optical readout with edge-AI, microfluidic chip interfaces and intelligent control into a compact suitcase-size device tailored for SME labs.
The project will integrate the current functional prototype into a unified system, add usability and performance optimisations to meet end-user targets, and validate the platform through customer-site testing. In parallel, it will validate the business model, strengthen IP protection, complete the team and increase investment readiness to enable market entry and scaling. By shortening the strain-engineering cycle and lowering adoption barriers, DROPLETFACTORY will support Europe’s shift toward sustainable, energy-efficient and digitally enabled biomanufacturing.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.4.1 - Widening participation and spreading excellence
MAIN PROGRAMME
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-CSA - HORIZON Coordination and Support Actions
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) HORIZON-WIDERA-2025-02
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
19086 Tallinn
Estonia
The organization defined itself as SME (small and medium-sized enterprise) at the time the Grant Agreement was signed.
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.