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Bangalore based tech bio startup Mandrake Bio has secured approximately Rs 16 crore in a pre-seed funding round, co-led by Activate and Antler, with participation from Spectrum Impact and DeVC. Angel investors including Vijay Chandru, Paras Chopra, Sanjiv Rangrass, and Vatsal Du also backed the round. Founded in March 2025 by Tanay Lohia and Dr. Kutubuddin Molla, the company builds programmable gene editing enzymes using generative AI and biophysics, with the capital earmarked for platform development, team expansion, and wet-lab validation.
A Ground Up Approach to Enzyme Design
Most gene editing tools, including CRISPR-Cas9, originate from naturally occurring biological systems that scientists later adapt for human use. Mandrake Bio takes the opposite approach: designing enzymes from scratch, engineered specifically for target applications rather than repurposed from nature.
The company combines generative AI models with structural biology and experimental validation to understand why a protein design works, not just whether it works. This signal driven method aims to generalize across enzyme families, rather than optimizing one protein at a time.
The Case for Faster, Purpose-Built Enzymes
Traditional drug development timelines run 10 to 15 years and cost billions of dollars. Crop improvement through gene editing can take 7 to 10 years. Mandrake Bio’s stated goal is to compress these timelines by designing purpose built enzymes rather than relying on trial and error adaptation of natural systems.
The startup’s recent win at the GEM X Adaptyv global protein design competition, where it designed a binder to the previously difficult RBX1 target, offers an early signal that its approach has technical merit, though broader validation remains ongoing.
Deploying the Capital
The capital will support three priorities: advancing the AI-based protein design platform, expanding the research team across AI and biophysics, and scaling wet lab validation of gene editing enzymes for agricultural and medical use cases. Mandrake Bio plans to license these enzymes to seed companies and therapeutic developers.
How Mandrake Bio’s Approach Works
How does Mandrake Bio design enzymes? By pairing generative AI models with biophysics and structural data, then validating designs through targeted wet lab experiments that feed insights back into the design process.
Who can use this technology? Seed companies and therapeutic developers, through licensing agreements, for applications spanning crop improvement and genetic disease treatment.
Looking Ahead
With fresh funding secured, Mandrake Bio’s near-term focus will be scaling its research team and validating enzyme designs in the lab. Its progress will offer an early test of whether AI-driven, from scratch protein engineering can meaningfully outperform conventional, nature derived approaches.
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