[Funding alert] Biotech startup immunitoAI raises $1M in seed round led by pi Ventures

immunitoAI, a biotech startup that is developing an AI-powered antibody discovery and screening platform, announced on Wednesday that it has raised $1 million in a seed round led by Pi Ventures, with existing investor Entrepreneur First also participating. This is pi Ventures’s first investment from their Fund 2, announced in April 2021.

According to the official statement, the funds raised by the startup will be deployed for product development and industry partnerships. 

Founded in November 2020 by Aridni Shah and Trisha Chatterjee, immunitoAI designs and screens antibody candidates for a given antigen. With this technology, the startup aims to increase the number of antibodies discovered drastically, making targeted therapy a norm in the future.

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Aridni Shah, CEO and Co-founder, immunitoAI, said,

“Integration of AI with biology has become a reality today. Biology has always been difficult to study and understand, but with the use of AI, we have started to bridge the gaps and what was thought to be impossible earlier has become possible. Our vision is to make antibody therapy a norm with the help of our technology. We plan on using this seed funding to develop our AI products and validate the predictions through biological experiments.”

While the focus is on antibody screening and improvement in the short term, the startup plans to develop their own antibody candidates in the mid and long term.

Commenting on the investment, Roopan Aulakh, Managing Director, pi Ventures said,

“Our focus at pi has been to invest in startups that are revolutionizing industries using disruptive technology. This thesis is well reflected in immunitoAI, our first investment from our recently launched Fund II. The company’s AI-led platform will make the antibody discovery process faster and cheaper, enabling targeted therapy for multiple diseases. We are delighted to partner with Aridni and Trisha, who bring a unique combination of biotech and AI to the table.”

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