Google Alum’s AI startup raises $24 million for biotech work

tech.hindustantimes.com:

European biotech startup Cradle raised $24 million, gaining funds for its effort to use AI to help scientists design and engineer proteins faster and more cost-effectively.

Index Ventures led the Series A round, joined by Kindred Capital, Chris Gibson, the co-founder of Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc., and Tom Glocer, the former chief executive officer of Thomson Reuters Corp. and a Merck & Co. board member, Cradle said Tuesday. The startup has raised a total of $33 million so far, including a seed round last year.

Cradle harnesses generative artificial intelligence to help create proteins beyond what exists in nature. It's working on more than a dozen projects to engineer a wide range of protein sequences and 3D structures for enzymes, vaccines, lab-grown food and other materials.

Founded in 2021, the startup's customers include Johnson & Johnson, Novozymes A/S and Twist Bioscience Corp. It has offices in Delft, Netherlands, as well as Zurich.

Generative AI, made famous by OpenAI's ChatGPT chatbot, has the potential to transform drug development. Cradle's proprietary generative AI, trained on billions of protein sequences as well as data generated in its own laboratories, helps biologists design improved proteins and speed up R&D. 

“Results show that Cradle's technology leads to fewer, yet more successful experiments, making progress faster,” said Stef van Grieken, its co-founder and chief executive officer, who previously led product development at Google Brain.

Generative AI capabilities could improve the chances of solving protein engineering challenges that can't be handled with existing tools, Cradle said. For instance, biopharma companies spend an average of $22 million and 42 months of research to get a single potential