$1.8M Boost for MIT Alum’s Bioprinter Startup to Democratize Biofabrication

With roots at MIT, Biological Lattice Industries (BLI) is pushing biofabrication into new territory. Founded by MIT alum Filippos Tourlomousis, BLI just closed a $1.8 million funding round to roll out its flagship tools: the BioLoom bioprinter and Loominus Studio software designed to simplify and unify complex lab workflows. The company’s goal? To make biofabrication simple and intuitive for life sciences labs everywhere.

Founded in 2021, BLI’s mission centers on democratizing biofabrication, a process critical to producing biomaterials used in everything from advanced 3D cell cultures for human biology emulation to resorbable medical devices. BLI’s founder and CEO, Tourlomousis, brings a deep background in bioengineering and AI-driven automation, with research experience from MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, best known for exploring how digital information can shape physical materials. The center’s projects often bridge computer science, engineering, and biology to create novel applications, such as programmable materials and 3D printed organs.

Tourlomousis’ prior research at MIT’s Center for Bits and Atoms, particularly his work on using machine learning to classify cell behaviors on structured biomaterials, laid the groundwork for BLI’s focus. By translating these principles into BLI’s BioLoom bioprinter and Loominus Studio, he wants to provide labs with tools that simplify the design and testing of biomaterials, potentially expanding how researchers study and apply biofabrication in medical and biological sciences.

Led by Greek venture capital firm Uni.Fund the pre-seed funding will help BLI further develop its products. A common hurdle in biofabrication labs is the lack of integration across devices and protocols, which makes the design-to-fabrication process complicated and prone to error.

However, BLI’s Loominus Studio aims to address this by combining every step of the workflow into a unified platform. This automation means researchers can seamlessly design, test, and fabricate biomaterials without navigating multiple systems or manually adjusting parameters. By simplifying these workflows, Loominus Studio promises labs higher precision, reproducibility, and efficiency.

Tourlomousis says the dream is to allow labs to focus on the innovative aspects of biofabrication instead of technical difficulties: “Loominus Studio represents a new standard in biofabrication, allowing labs to focus on innovation rather than the technical challenges of integration. Our goal is to make biofabrication as simple and intuitive as possible, empowering researchers to break through technical barriers.”

While Loominus Studio streamlines processes on the software side, BLI’s BioLoom bioprinter is doing the same on the hardware front. The extrusion-based BioLoom bioprinter is capable of producing high-resolution, multi-material scaffolds and devices for tissue engineering and other biotechnological applications.

One standout feature of the BioLoom is its Active Environmental Control, which maintains the necessary conditions to ensure reproducibility and aligns with Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards. This setup positions BioLoom as an ideal choice for research and life sciences commercialization.

According to Tourlomousis, BioLoom is more than just a 3D bioprinter: “BioLoom provides an unparalleled level of versatility and precision. It is designed to meet the needs of both academic and commercial labs, pushing the boundaries of biofabrication beyond traditional 3D bioprinting capabilities.”

This means that, with BioLoom, labs can expect to fabricate biomaterials that are reproducible, customizable, and ready to accelerate innovations in biomedical fields​

With this pre-seed funding, BLI can accelerate the development and distribution of its platform and tools, helping the company reach more labs and researchers worldwide. With financial support and venture guidance from Uni.Fund, BLI wants to make its technology the industry standard for biofabrication.

Uni.Fund is known for supporting deep tech startups in Europe. The venture firm’s founding partner, Katerina Pramatari, believes “BLI is a game-changer in the biotech space, with a bold vision to disrupt how biofabrication is performed globally. Their integrated approach to life sciences R&D, combining sophisticated hardware and software powered by AI, is exactly the kind of innovation that Uni.Fund aims to support.”

With its focus on automating and unifying biofabrication workflows, BLI hopes to address an important gap in life sciences. Looking to the future, BLI aims to grow its user base by expanding the features and capabilities of both BioLoom and Loominus Studio. The company’s Boston base and R&D center in Greece are part of its commitment to having global expertise.

In a field where every step toward simplifying technology means more breakthroughs, BLI’s focus on democratizing biofabrication could end up creating an environment where complex biofabrication tasks become manageable, even for smaller labs.