US-based drug development technology developer 1910 Genetics emerged from stealth yesterday having completed a $22m series A round featuring software producer Microsoft’s corporate venturing unit, M12.
Venture capital firm Playground Global co-led the round, which followed a $4.1m seed round led by Sam Altman and backed by fellow angel investors including Tuck Lye Koh as well as FoundersX Ventures, Y Combinator, Scientia Ventures and Emles Advisors.
Founded in 2018, 1910 has developed technology that applies artificial intelligence to the development process for small molecule and protein therapeutics.
M12 managing director Samir Kumar will take a board seat at the company in connection with the round, as will Jory Bell, general partner at Playground Global.
Kumar said: “The growing number of AI and biotech companies in the market today demonstrates the promise of AI to advance the healthcare industry.
“After evaluating several companies in the space, we are betting on 1910 Genetics to bring AI-designed drugs to market. 1910’s biology-first approach, combined with AI and computation, is the key to making significantly more progress toward that goal.”