Associan provides an autonomous cell‑culture platform that uses an AI agent, Willow, to plan, monitor, and execute routine workflows such as feeding, passaging, imaging, and plating. The system integrates incubation, precise liquid handling, and imaging for both T‑flasks and well plates, delivering 80–95% reduction in manual effort and over 95% batch‑to‑batch consistency while logging every action for reproducibility.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
Cell culture workflows require repetitive manual tasks such as feeding, passaging, imaging, and plating, leading to high labor costs, inconsistent results, and frequent interruptions to researchers’ schedules.
Solution
Associan delivers an autonomous cell‑culture platform that integrates robotics, computer vision, and an AI agent named Willow to plan, monitor, and execute routine laboratory operations around the clock. Users can describe protocols in natural language, after which Willow generates executable steps, simulates the workflow with a digital twin, and schedules runs. The system performs precise liquid handling, continuous imaging, and real‑time error detection, logging every action with timestamps for full traceability. By automating 80–95 % of manual steps, the platform provides consistent confluency and morphology with over 95 % batch‑to‑batch reproducibility, allowing scientists to focus on experimental design rather than routine maintenance.
Target Audience
Primary customers are academic and industrial life‑science laboratories that perform routine cell‑culture work, including biotech R&D teams and pharmaceutical research groups.
Features
- AI‑driven workflow planning via natural‑language input, converting scientific intent into executable protocols
- Digital‑twin simulation to validate timing, motion, and resource usage before physical execution
- Integrated robotic arm with precise liquid handling for feeding, passaging, plating, and assay preparation
- Continuous computer‑vision monitoring that detects errors and anomalies in real time
- End‑to‑end handling of T‑flasks and well plates, covering incubation, imaging, and data logging within a single system
- Timestamped, fully logged actions ensuring reproducibility and auditability of every run