Latent Labs, a company building AI foundation models to make biology programmable, announced it emerged from stealth with $50 million in total funding to accelerate its progress and partnerships. This funding includes a $40 million Series A co-led by Radical Ventures and Sofinnova Partners, with the participation of Flying Fish and Isomer and existing investors 8VC, Kindred Capital, and Pillar VC. Notable angel investors who participated include Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean, Transformer architecture inventor and Cohere founder Aidan Gomez, and ElevenLabs founder Mati Staniszewski.
The company was launched by Dr. Simon Kohl, previously a co-lead of DeepMind’s protein design team and a senior research scientist on DeepMind’s AlphaFold2. This project earned a Nobel Prize for Chemistry for Demis Hassabis and John Jumper.
DeepMind’s AlphaFold solved the long-term problems of protein structure prediction and showcased how machine learning can help us understand biology. Now, the opportunity is to advance and apply the latest generative techniques to design proteins from scratch.
Latent Labs’ platform does this by empowering researchers to computationally create new therapeutic molecules, like antibodies or enzymes, the AI lab will help partners unlock previously challenging targets and open new paths to personalized medicines. What’s more, partners can leverage the platform to design proteins with improved molecular features (such as increased affinity and stability), expediting drug development timelines and raising success rates.
KEY QUOTES:
“Every biotechnology or pharmaceutical company wants to be at the forefront of technology to find the best therapeutic molecules, yet not all are in a position to develop the most advanced AI models for the job. That’s where Latent Labs comes in. We push the frontiers of generative biology, giving our partners instant access to tools that accelerate their drug design programs.”
– Latent Labs CEO and founder Simon Kohl
“We’ve partnered with Latent Labs because we’re confident that this team will realize the therapeutic and commercial potential of de novo protein design. Such a capability has never before been possible, one which can benefit humanity in such a profound way. Accelerating the development of more effective cures for disease, Latent is at the vanguard of innovation in computational biology, and we are excited to join them on this journey.”
– Radical Ventures partner Aaron Rosenberg, the former Head of Strategy & Operations at DeepMind, where he contributed to spinning out Isomorphic Labs to build upon AlphaFold
“Latent Labs transforms biology from an observational science into an engineering craft, granting us precise control over life’s building blocks. In practical terms, it means crafting bespoke molecules that tackle challenges once thought insurmountable. It’s a revolution in our ability to harness nature’s building blocks to develop breakthrough treatments and transform our lives. With pharmaceutical companies overwhelmingly demanding agile, next-generation tools to accelerate discovery and improve patient outcomes, Latent Labs is at the forefront of this rapidly growing market need.”
– Edward Kliphuis, partner at Sofinnova Partners
