German tech start-up aquila biolabs is dedicated to developing innovative technology for regulating and analyzing bioprocesses in bioreactors and incubation shakers. The company launched in 2014 with the support of the EXIST scholarship, which the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy awards to start-ups with an innovative technology. Just one year later, the minds behind aquila biolabs won several awards at business plan competitions and convinced investors to plow further capital into their fledgling company. All efforts are geared toward pursuing aquila biolabs' long-term vision of digitizing bioprocesses in line with Industry 4.0 so they can help create a global bio-economy. Working in small interdisciplinary teams, the start-up's skilled experts systematically pinpoint problems in bioprocessing, assess the relevant solutions and turn them into marketable products.

One of the projects at aquila biolabs is the Liquid Injection System (LIS), which is designed as an easy-to-use technology for the automated feeding of liquids into shake flasks. As LIS consists of just three components - a sterile disposable cartridge, a drive and LIS software - the process involved is straightforward. After filling up to 25 ml of the chosen liquid into the cartridge, the user defines a feeding profile in the software program and fits the cartridge with the drive onto the shake flask. The software is designed so users can create complex feeding profiles, not to mention control and monitor the feeding process wirelessly. The developers at aquila biolabs hope their innovation will help unlock completely new opportunities for shake flask experiments. On the topic of shake flasks, aquila biolabs has also chosen LABVOLUTION 2019 to reveal its own shake flasks specially designed for experiments with LIS. To enhance the transfer of oxygen into the shake flasks, these LIS flasks feature an additional neck, which can be closed using any standard seal such as aluminum caps, cotton plugs or filters. The LIS flasks from aquila biolabs are available with and without baffles and can hold volumes ranging from 250 ml to two liters.