Biotech and AI startup Cradle has achieved notable success with its innovative approach to protein design, securing substantial backing with a recent $24 million investment. Emerging from stealth just over a year ago amid the growing excitement around large language models, Cradle distinguishes itself by treating the lengthy amino acid sequences constituting proteins as a unique “alien programming language.”
While conventional methods involve training AI models to comprehend molecular structures, Cradle’s insight is that understanding this language might be challenging for humans but feasible for AI. Although users can’t directly instruct the AI to “create a protein for a specific function,” they can inquire about the characteristics of, for example, 100 promising proteins concerning factors like stability in different environments.
This approach has attracted the attention of major players in drug development, including Johnson & Johnson and Novozymes. Cradle asserts that its technology can significantly reduce the time and number of experiments typically required for creating functional proteins from scratch. While the claimed halving of development time lacks specific validation, Cradle shared an example involving the generation of T7 RNA polymerase variants with increased stability, where 70% of the produced variants exhibited the desired trait, a notable improvement compared to traditional methods.
Cradle is actively working on various projects, including a soil decontaminant, a growth factor for cultured meat, a metabolic pathway-regulating transaminase, and an antibody therapeutic. The company’s CEO, Stef van Grieken, highlights the versatility of their models, which exhibit promising generalization across different protein types and tasks.
Beyond drug development, Cradle’s technology has potential applications in food and industrial sectors. Notably, the platform’s appeal lies in its user-friendly nature, enabling scientists and labs to operate it without the need for a dedicated machine learning engineer.
Regarding the decision to build a biotech company in the EU, van Grieken acknowledges both advantages and challenges. While fundraising in Europe for deep-tech ventures may pose complexities compared to the more tech-bio-focused U.S. investment landscape, Europe offers a robust talent pool from prestigious institutions, such as ETH and EPFL. Van Grieken emphasizes the evolving European ecosystem, highlighting the presence of major tech companies and leading pharma and biotech firms in the region.
Cradle’s $24 million Series A funding, following a $5.5 million seed round last year, was led by previous investor Index Ventures, with participation from Kindred Capital and individual investors including Chris Gibson, Tom Glocer, and others. The company intends to utilize the capital to expand its team and bolster sales efforts.
