Imperagen, a techbio spin-out from the University of Manchester, has raised £5 million in seed funding to accelerate its AI-driven enzyme engineering platform that combines quantum physics simulations, AI modelling, and automated robotics. The funding round was led by PXN Ventures, with participation from existing investors IQ Capital and Northern Gritstone.
Founded in 2021 by Dr. Andrew Almond, Dr. Andrew Currin, and Dr. Tim Eyes from the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology, the Manchester-based company has now raised a total of £8.5 million. The new capital will be used to expand research and development, enhance wet lab capabilities, scale the company’s AI team, and grow its commercial operations over the next 18 months.
Imperagen focuses on engineering enzymes, biological catalysts that can reduce waste, lower energy consumption, and improve manufacturing efficiency across industries including pharmaceuticals, personal care, sustainable chemicals, and industrial biotech. Traditional enzyme engineering methods are often slow and costly, relying heavily on manual screening processes with limited success rates.
The company’s proprietary platform integrates three core components into a closed-loop system. First, quantum physics simulations model millions of potential enzyme mutations in silico. Second, those simulation outputs are used to train AI models tailored to specific engineering challenges. Third, automated robotics test the most promising enzyme candidates in physical laboratory environments, generating experimental data that feeds directly back into the AI system to continuously improve future predictions.
Imperagen said this recursive feedback loop enables the platform to become increasingly accurate over time, helping identify high-performing enzyme variants faster and more efficiently than conventional methods.
The company has already demonstrated commercial traction through projects with major enterprise customers. In one collaboration with a Fortune 500 personal care company, Imperagen reported improving the productivity of two enzymes by 677x and 572x respectively after just five experimental cycles.
Alongside the funding announcement, Guy Levy-Yurista, PhD has joined the company as CEO. Levy-Yurista brings experience scaling technology and life sciences businesses across the US and Europe, including two successful exits.
The company plans to use the new funding to expand its AI-guided R&D platform, scale wet lab operations, and convert growing commercial demand into contracted revenue opportunities across pharmaceuticals, life sciences, personal care, sustainable fine chemicals, and industrial biotechnology markets.
KEY QUOTES:
“What I see right now is that the companies that will make a radical difference in this emerging AI-driven future are all AI-native, lean on real world data, have genuine impact, and are fundamentally deep tech. Imperagen has each of those characteristics, combining them with outstanding people, phenomenal technology and the undeniable swagger you only get from Manchester. It was a no-brainer to join the team and lead this next stage in its growth.”
Guy Levy-Yurista, CEO, Imperagen
“The North West’s life sciences ecosystem is becoming stronger all the time and stands to gain from Imperagen’s local hiring and growth plans, building on the company’s connection to the University of Manchester’s Manchester Institute of Biotechnology. We’re excited to be supporting Imperagen with investment from both the GMC Life Sciences Fund and the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II as the company looks to scale success in enzyme engineering and deliver progress within the life sciences sector, which is one of the key sectors highlighted in the UK Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy.”
Sim Singh-Landa, Investment Director, PXN Ventures
