Cradle Secures $24M to Advance AI-Powered Protein Design Platform
Generative AI Accelerates Breakthroughs in Biotech
Cradle, the pioneering biotech startup leveraging generative AI for protein engineering, has successfully raised \(24 million in Series A funding. This latest investment round follows the company's \)5.5 million seed funding in 2022 and signals growing confidence in its innovative approach to protein design.
How Cradle’s AI Platform Revolutionizes Protein Engineering
Cradle’s breakthrough lies in treating amino acid sequences as a complex programming language that AI can decode and manipulate. While traditional protein design requires years of trial-and-error experimentation, Cradle’s platform enables researchers to:
- Rapidly generate protein variants with desired properties
- Predict molecular behavior under specific conditions
- Reduce experimental iterations by up to 80%
“Our models show significant improvement over traditional protein engineering methods,” explains CEO Stef van Grieken. “We’re seeing 70% success rates in creating thermally stable variants, compared to the typical % success rate with conventional approaches.”
Validated by Industry Leaders
The platform has already attracted major partners including:
- Johnson & Johnson (pharmaceuticals)
- Novozymes (industrial enzymes)
- Multiple undisclosed biotech firms
Current applications span:
✔ Drug discovery and development
✔ Environmental remediation enzymes
✔ Cultured meat growth factors
✔ Metabolic pathway research
European Biotech Ecosystem Shows Promise
Based in Zurich, Cradle benefits from:
- Access to top-tier talent from ETH and EPFL
- Proximity to major pharma headquarters
- Less competitive hiring landscape than Silicon Valley
“While fundraising presents challenges in Europe, the talent pool and customer access make it an ideal location for deep-tech biotech innovation,” notes van Grieken.
Funding and Future Growth
The $24 million investment was led by Index Ventures, with participation from:
- Kindred Capital
- Angel investors including Chris Gibson and Tom Glocer
Funds will accelerate:
- Platform development and refinement
- Team expansion across engineering and science roles
- Commercial growth and partner onboarding
“We’re demonstrating real-world impact by helping partners bring bio-based products to market faster and more cost-effectively,” van Grieken concludes, highlighting the platform’s expanding capabilities across diverse protein engineering challenges.
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