BOSTON, Mass. — AI Proteins, a biotechnology company developing a new class of de novo medicines designed entirely with artificial intelligence, has closed a $41.5 million Series A financing round. Mission BioCapital and Santé Ventures led the funding, with participation from existing investors including Lightchain Capital and Cobro Ventures.
The new capital will support AI Proteins’ efforts to accelerate the design and development of miniprotein therapeutics created from first principles. Powered by generative AI, synthetic biology, and robotics, the company’s discovery platform enables the engineering of purpose-built proteins optimized for function, stability, solution behavior, and pharmacology. These modular miniproteins can be customized for complex mechanisms of action, including multispecific targeting and precision delivery.
“Natural proteins evolved under selective pressures in the environment. They did not evolve to be modern medicine,” said Chris Bahl, PhD, Founder and CEO of AI Proteins. “Antibodies changed patient care but are limited by their natural origin. The next wave of biologic medicines will do things that are impossible for natural proteins because they’re made de novo. We start our design process with a target product profile and work backward to create the exact molecule needed. This level of control and precision wasn’t possible before. By industrializing the design-build-test cycle, we generate and optimize miniprotein candidates at speed and scale, and harvest massive datasets that we use to improve our models and accelerate our progress.”
AI Proteins has demonstrated the range and scalability of its platform through internal programs and external collaborations. In December 2024, the company entered a research collaboration and option agreement with Bristol Myers Squibb valued at up to $400 million. Internally, it has generated molecules against more than 150 targets, with several programs achieving in vivo proof-of-concept. The platform’s capabilities also extend beyond therapeutics, offering potential applications in diagnostics, agriculture, and reagents, where de novo proteins may outperform naturally derived counterparts.
“AI Proteins turned what has historically been artisanal science into a reproducible, scalable process capable of generating molecules across therapeutic domains,” said Steve Tregay, PhD, Managing General Partner at Mission BioCapital. “We see AI Proteins as a foundational company built to unlock an entirely new class of proteins.”
To support long-term platform innovation, the company is implementing a hub-and-spoke business model, forming subsidiaries around specialized programs while preserving and scaling its core technology engine. This structure enables sustained discovery efforts while allowing investors and partners to capture value from individual assets.
“AI Proteins has built a platform that’s not only scientifically differentiated, but operationally designed for scale,” said Omar Khalil, Managing Director at Santé Ventures. “This is a platform that can power a generation of new therapies and advancements across diverse fields.”
