In a Series A fundraising round, Chris Gibson, co-founder of Recursion Pharmaceuticals Inc., Index Ventures, Kindred Capital, and Tom Glocer, former CEO of Thomson Reuters Corp. and board member of Merck & Co., contributed to the $24 million raised by the European biotech company Cradle. Including a seed round last year, the 2021-founded business has already raised a total of $33 million.
Cradle is an artificial intelligence platform that helps scientists more economically and efficiently design and manipulate proteins. The company is actively developing a variety of protein sequences and 3D structures for vaccines, lab-grown food, enzymes, and other materials. It is working on more than a dozen projects in this regard. With offices in Delft, Netherlands, and Zurich, it serves clients such as Johnson & Johnson, Novozymes A/S, and Twist Bioscience Corp.
Using billions of protein sequences and data gathered in its own labs, Cradle’s unique generative AI helps scientists build better proteins and accelerate research and development. Co-founder and CEO of Cradle Stef van Grieken claims that the technology speeds up progress by enabling fewer but more fruitful experiments. Additionally, biotech businesses may exchange their data more easily for use in generative AI and machine learning technologies thanks to the startup’s web-based platform. Cradle intends to double its staff and construct more engineering and lab space with the increased money.