Dynamic microcarrier-based cultivation processes, e.g. expansion of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) are increasing in importance for different pharmaceutical and medical applications. iPSC, due to their pluripotent status, are theoretically able to differentiate into all cell types of the three germ layers [1]. This characteristic can further be utilized to personalize drug screenings or cytotoxicity tests. Since for each application large amount of iPSC are required, scalable expansion processes are necessary. As a state of the art, iPSC are cultivated on flat, stiff polystyrene surfaces. This type of cultivation limits cell-cell and cell-matrix interactions, as well as the scalability. An efficient way to scale up expansion processes is the usage of microcarrier. Microcarrier are spherically shaped and therefore have a maximized surface to volume ratio. Commercially, different microcarrier with a high stiffness (comparable to bone) are available, which limits the need of soft, physiological surfaces. Ultra-high viscous (UHV)-alginate, which is a hydrogel extracted from brown algae, was already successfully used to expand iPSC, with MatrigelTM (MTG) as a protein-coating agent to enable cell adhesion and proliferation on the microcarrier [2]. MTG and UHV-alginate exhibit batch-to-batch variabilities. Furthermore, MTG-coated UHV-alginate microcarrier are stored in isotonic 0,9% NaCl solution. During storage, several negative effects can occur. The protein layer might be denaturated by proteolysis which leads to loss of functionality or physicochemical properties of the UHV-alginate microcarrier change due to ion exchange which influences the cell reaction. The restrictions described above can be avoided by drying and storing alginate batches immediately after production. Freeze-drying, described as the gentlest drying technique for hydrogels [3], can be used to overcome the storage limitations. In consequence to this, freeze-drying was performed in this work using disaccharides as a lyoprotective agent. The freeze-drying process was implemented using optical DSC and freeze-drying microscopy to determine process critical parameter e.g. characterisation of lyoprotective agent’s characterstic. To analyse the drying performance different parameter e.g. lyocake appearance and the microcarrier’s structure and functionality were consulted. Our data show well preserved UHV-alginate microcarrier after freeze-drying and reconstitution [Figure 1]. To validate the functionality, iPSC were inoculated on the reconstituted microcarrier, analysing cell adhesion, proliferation and the preservation of their pluripotency status. Coherent to our study, freeze-drying is a drying method that, without a storage step in between, preserves the structure and functionality of UHV-alginate microcarriers after reconstitution and hence can be utilized in a further step for long-term storage studies.