Houdini Bio emerged from stealth with £1.5 million in oversubscribed pre-seed funding to advance its work in cell and gene therapy optimization. The round was led by SCVC, the investment arm of Science Creates, with participation from Deep Science Ventures and Cambridge Enterprise.
Houdini Bio is a University of Cambridge spinout developing a machine learning-powered platform designed to improve the performance and durability of gene and cell therapies. The company is focused on addressing one of the key challenges in the field: ensuring that therapeutic activity can be sustained for longer periods while maintaining safety and effectiveness.
The company’s technology rewrites therapeutic DNA to help gene and cell therapies remain active for longer. By extending the functional lifetime of these therapies, Houdini Bio aims to improve treatment outcomes and potentially enable lower, safer doses for patients.
The company’s approach could support the development of next-generation therapies by improving how therapeutic DNA is designed and optimized before reaching clinical use. This could be particularly important as the cell and gene therapy sector continues to grow and as developers look for better ways to improve potency, durability, and safety.
Houdini Bio recently graduated from Cohort 3 of Science Creates’ national Engineering Biology Accelerator. Science Creates said the company’s progression from accelerator participant to portfolio company reflects its broader commitment to supporting technical founders across multiple stages of company building, from training and venture development to investment and commercial de-risking.
The new funding will support Houdini Bio as it continues developing its machine learning platform and advances its mission of unlocking the full potential of next-generation cell and gene therapies. The financing also gives the company additional resources to build on its academic foundations and move further toward commercialization.
Houdini Bio is led by Jonathan Cohen-Gold, PhD, and Lee Dunham.
