Announcement
Cradle: Digital Biology Through AI
Today IVP is announcing that it has led a $73M Series B in Cradle, the leader in AI-powered protein engineering.
For those of us who work in today’s digital world - the world of bits - rapid iteration is a fact of life. Software and internet companies can build new features, and then deploy, test, and optimize them in days. However, in the physical world - the world of atoms and molecules - cycle times are slower, and innovation is harder. Increasingly, we see that AI models are able to impact real-world designs, accelerating the pace of innovation in deep technology industries. No industry will benefit more from AI than the field of bioengineering, which is key to solving global challenges like disease, climate change, and pollution.
Cradle is bringing biology into the digital realm by making proteins programmable and turning scientific discovery from arduous trial-and-error into a process where scientists are given predictive suggestions at each step. If discovering the right protein sequence used to be like trying to find a needle in a haystack, Cradle hands you a metal detector. With Cradle, scientists input their lab data and set their target molecule profile, and Cradle’s generative models will automatically produce molecules that achieve their objectives. Finding a breakthrough in biology goes from an exercise measured in years to one measured in weeks: Cradle’s customers are accelerating the experimental process between 50% and 1,200%, an unprecedented improvement.
Customers across science-based industries are discovering Cradle and implementing their models and software into their R&D departments, including some of the largest global companies in pharmaceuticals, chemicals, and agriculture. Part of Cradle’s unique proposition is its commitment to the software business model. With Cradle, companies like Novo Nordisk and Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine are deploying AI into every part of their research, with the confidence that their data, discoveries, and products are fully theirs. In an industry obsessed with royalties, revenue shares, and proprietary pipelines, Cradle is democratizing access to the latest advances in generative AI for its customers.
Cradle’s mission to improve human and planetary health is ambitious. Whether by developing life-saving drugs, solutions to our climate crisis, or sustainable materials, Cradle is impacting some of the most important real-world issues of our time. We look forward to partnering with Stef van Grieken and the exceptional team at Cradle to build a company of consequence. Learn more about joining Cradle’s mission here.