Google Alum's Biotech Startup Cradle Raises $24M To Boost AI-Powered Protein Design And Engineering

Netherlands-based biotech startup Cradle has raised $24 million in Series A funding as it looks to boost its protein design and engineering process.

What Happened: Cradle's $24 million Series A funding was led by Index Ventures, with Kindred Capital also participating in the round.

Tom Glocer, former lead director of Merck and CEO of Thomson Reuters, and Chris Gibson, co-founder of Recursion, also participated in the fundraise.

Cradle is engaged in biotech engineering. More specifically, it designs and engineers new proteins using generative artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML).

Scientists can use Cradle's software to design improved variants of proteins to undertake sequencing much faster than traditional testing methods.

The company has so far raised $33 million, and it is currently working on over 12 research and development projects, including vaccines, peptides, and antibodies.

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"Most projects progress two times faster using Cradle's platform compared to industry benchmarks," the company says.

While Microsoft Corp.-backed MSFT OpenAI has popularized generative AI thanks to tools like ChatGPT and Dall-E, among others, pharmaceutical giants like Johnson & Johnson JNJ and others are deploying this technology to engineer new products.

For instance, Cradle has used its generative AI technology to produce an alternate version of the T7 RNA polymerase that is more resistant to higher temperatures.

Stef van Grieken, Cradle's co-founder and CEO says that the company's technology has allowed for fewer yet more successful experiments. He has previously led product development at Google Brain, a deep learning AI research division at Alphabet Inc.'s GOOG GOOGL Google.

Cradle says it will use the fresh funds to expand its machine learning and biotech teams, apart from investing in product development and sales capabilities.

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