The innovative travelling wave bioreactor (TWB), an orbitally shaken system, developed specifically for cell culture applications, is investigated. In this study, engineering parameters covering power input, mixing time and oxygen mass transfer obtained in two TWB prototypes are presented for the first time. Based on the results, cultivation parameters for CHO suspension cell cultivations were defined. Cell growth and substrate consumption were comparable with a wave‐mixed reference bioreactor, which demonstrates the bioreactor's applicability for cultivations of mammalian cell cultures for the first time.