Aenitis Technologies moves living cells without touching them. The company, a 2014 spin-off from France's CNRS and the ESPCI Paris engineering school, uses standing sound waves to push, hold and separate cells as they flow through a chamber, a technique called acoustophoresis. It started with blood banks and now targets the production of cell therapies, where gentle handling of fragile cells is a bottleneck.
In June 2021 Aenitis was among the few companies the European Innovation Council selected for equity only, with no grant. The EIC Fund's investment was announced as closed in October 2024. Along the way the EIC published its list of winners with Aenitis described as a supplier of "reliable and durable composite bonding & fastening solutions", a description that has nothing to do with the company.
Company file
- Legal entity
- Aenitis Technologies SAS, SIREN 803 512 458
- Founded
- July 2014, CNRS and ESPCI Paris spin-off
- Leadership
- Emmanuel Vincent (CEO); Eric Garnier (independent chairman)
- Product
- Mitis, a CE-marked acoustic cell-processing system
- Investors
- EIC Fund, Seventure (Quadrivium I), Mifani Invest, Stamos, Weaving Invest
- EIC award
- June 2021 cut-off, equity only; listed as "ACI2021"
- CORDIS project
- None: equity-only awards carry no grant agreement
- Staff
- 10 to 19 (2022 register band)
What Aenitis Does Today
Aenitis is preparing a commercial launch. In October 2024 the EU's small-business agency EISMEA announced that it had closed equity financing with the EIC Fund, advised by the European Investment Bank, together with Seventure Partners' Quadrivium I fund, Mifani Invest, Stamos Capital Partners, Weaving Invest, business angels and the founders. Total funding since its creation, equity and non-dilutive combined, came to €14.5 million.
The company's announcement said the money would prepare the launch of its CE-marked Mitis system, first in Europe and then in the United States and selected Asian markets, and bring in experienced industry figures: an independent chairman from Pall Medical and a board member who led the bioprocessing group Novasep.
"Their involvement is critical to Aenitis' success, positioning us for a successful market launch."
Emmanuel Vincent, chief executive, Aenitis Technologies, October 2024The Technology: Levitating Cells With Sound
When sound waves are reflected back on themselves in a small channel, they form a standing wave with fixed zones of high and low pressure. Cells in the flow are pushed towards specific zones depending on their size and density, so different cell types can be separated, concentrated or washed without filters, centrifuges or contact. According to EISMEA, Aenitis' platform handles "tens of millilitres per minute" at the millifluidic scale, far more than typical microfluidic acoustic devices.
The company's original application was blood: producing labile blood products such as platelet concentrates more gently. Its 2024 messaging centres on cell therapy and biomanufacturing, where manufacturers need to process living cells without damaging them. EIC Fund board chair Svetoslava Georgieva said the investment "is important for the European biomanufacturing sector".
What the EIC Award Was, and the Record's Error
Equity-only awards are unusual. They go to companies that the EIC considers ready for investment but that do not need, or are not eligible for, a grant. Because there is no grant, there is no CORDIS project and no public report of work performed; the only public trace of the award is the EIC's winners list and, eventually, the investment announcement.
That list contains an error. The EIC's official document for the 16 June 2021 cut-off lists "AENITIS TECHNOLOGIES", proposal "ACI2021", with the short description "Reliable and durable composite bonding & fastening solutions", equity only, and the website aenitis.fr. The next line is Cold Pad, a French company whose project really is about mechanical fasteners. The description does not match Aenitis' acoustic cell-sorting technology. The same text has been copied into winner databases since.
What Has Happened Since
The Money
Aenitis is still pre-commercial. The accounts on Pappers show revenue of €26,400 in 2023 and €67,300 in 2024, with net losses of €119,000 and €386,000. Earlier years were close to break-even, with a small profit of €54,200 in 2022. The register records capital increases decided in April and September 2024, and no insolvency proceedings.
Why Europe Should Care
Cell and gene therapies are among the fastest-moving areas of medicine, and manufacturing them is slow, manual and expensive. Tools that process cells more gently and at higher throughput address a real constraint in a sector where European manufacturers compete with larger US suppliers. Aenitis is also one of the few test cases of EIC equity without a grant, a model the EIC uses sparingly.
What the EIC recorded
An equity-only award for "reliable and durable composite bonding & fastening solutions".
What the company does
Acoustic cell processing for blood products and cell therapy, with a CE-marked product and an EIC Fund investment closed in 2024.
The Verdict
Invested, not yet launched
Aenitis received what the EIC promised, equity, even if it took more than three years. It has a certified product, credible industry advisers and fresh capital, but revenue is still in the tens of thousands of euros. The launch of Mitis will decide whether the EIC Fund's stake pays off. The EIC should, in the meantime, correct its own record of what it invested in.
Aenitis Technologies has not been asked for comment for this article. It is based entirely on public records, company statements and EU publications, linked throughout.
