Participated · Series C · Jan 2025

Deciphex, founded in 2017 and headquartered on Dublin City University’s Alpha campus, offers two core products: Diagnexia, which links a global pool of subspecialty pathologists for rapid case turnaround, and Patholytix, which streamlines preclinical safety assessments in drug development. These platforms collectively manage more than 97,000 cases per year through a network of 250+ pathologists. The company employs roughly 220 people across sites in Dublin, Exeter, Oxford, Chicago and Toronto, and it already serves customers in the EU, UK, US, Canada and Japan. Deciphex’s technology focuses on replacing manual, repetitive histopathology processes with AI-driven workflows to deliver faster, more reliable diagnoses. The firm aims to become the leading histopathology reporting provider in the UK by 2027 while simultaneously building a significant U.S. presence. Recognition of its execution includes being named the Irish Medtech Association’s Medtech Company of the Year in 2023. Recent financings—€31 m Series C equity followed by €15 m in venture debt—provide resources for continued international expansion.

Participated · Seed · Jun 2024

Ability Biologics is a Montreal-based cell targeting company focused on developing antibody therapeutics. Its AbiLeap™ discovery engine combines massively parallel, continuously learning AI with an extensive database of antigen–antibody interactions to generate fully human, IgG-based multi-specific antibodies of high selectivity and affinity. The company’s antibodies are designed to respond to environmental signals within the cellular microenvironment, enabling logic-gated therapeutics. Led by CEO Giles Day, Ability Biologics emphasizes tried-and-tested IgG formats to simplify manufacturing, storage and administration and to reduce risks tied to complex formats and immunogenicity. The company intends to use newly raised funds to expand operations and its R&D sector. Ability Biologics completed a Seed financing to support these development and scaling plans. Ability Biologics uses its AbiLeap™ discovery engine—an AI platform combined with a large antibody–antigen interaction database built from more than five years of discovery data and public and private sources—to systematically generate logic-enabled, fully human antibodies. The company aims to create antibodies that are logic-gated to target specific tissues and cells based on local microenvironment cues such as pH, temperature, or metabolites. Launched by Amplitude Ventures with co-founders Giles Day (CEO) and Jean-Philippe Bürckert (Vice President of Technology), Ability has established a partnership with Charles River Laboratories for drug discovery and non-clinical development collaboration. The company intends to use its new funding to continue developing its solutions and advance its discovery engine. Financially, Ability closed a $12M seed financing to support these development efforts.

Led · Equity · Jun 2023

Vernal Biosciences is a fully integrated contract development and manufacturing organization focused on manufacturing and formulating mRNA and LNP-mRNA. It offers end-to-end services including cell banking, plasmid DNA production, mRNA synthesis, and formulation into a variety of lipid chemistries, leveraging platform process and analytical technologies. The company is completing its first state-of-the-art GMP manufacturing facility, scheduled to be online July 2023, and is wrapping up cGMP manufacturing readiness for that site. Vernal plans to accelerate a second site next year to support larger-scale cGMP manufacturing for commercial mRNA drug products. Financially, Vernal announced a $20MM funding round led by Ampersand Capital Partners and Charles River Labs and previously completed a $21MM round in May 2022 that included Alloy Therapeutics. The company has scaled to 65 employees, added dozens of new customers, and increased scale by a factor of 20x. Vernal Biosciences is a Colchester, VT-based company that manufactures mRNA and formulates LNP-mRNA. It offers a complete range of mRNA-related services and products, including sequence design and screening support, scaled-down and scaled-up manufacturing of high-purity mRNA and LNP-mRNA, and platform process development technologies. The company plans to expand to full GMP manufacturing capabilities to support drug discovery through clinical development. Use cases cited include gene editing and regulation, cellular programming, vaccines, mRNA replacement, oncology, autoimmune conditions, and protein degradation. Led by CEO and founder Christian Cobaugh, Vernal recently closed a $21 million financing to support growth and its planned GMP buildout. The company’s board will include existing member Errik Anderson (Alloy Therapeutics) and new board members David Anderson (Ampersand) and Gustavo Mahler (Dynamk). Vernal Biosciences develops and provides high‑purity mRNA manufacturing services for research, preclinical, and planned clinical programs. The company offers manufacturing‑research‑use mRNA today while scaling a universal, Quality‑by‑Design platform to simplify regulatory interactions and accelerate client projects. Vernal is fine‑tuning processes to enable clients to move more quickly from discovery to clinical manufacturing without starting from scratch. The team is led by founder and CEO Christian Cobaugh, an mRNA veteran with prior process and manufacturing leadership at Omega Therapeutics, Translate Bio, Arcturus Therapeutics, and Alexion. Vernal is already engaging clients on research and preclinical projects and is scaling operations to add GMP clinical manufacturing capability. The company was founded in 2021 and is located in Colchester/Burlington, Vermont.

Led · Series A · Apr 2023

Wheeler Bio is a contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) built on its Modular CMC scientific platform, focused on accelerating antibody-based therapeutic candidates from discovery into clinical trials. It provides integrated services including manufacturability assessments, stable pool and clone development, process and analytical method development, process demonstration, technology transfer, and cGMP manufacturing. The company emphasizes a customer-intimate approach to build robust CMC packages vital for regulatory filings and ongoing manufacturing. Wheeler plans to broaden capabilities, expand its partner base and team, and is planning a 52,000 square-foot large-scale biologics manufacturing facility adjacent to a biomanufacturing workforce training center at Convergence in the Oklahoma City Innovation District. The company is headquartered in Oklahoma City and cites regional advantages such as lower business costs and a growing biomanufacturing workforce. The recent financing is intended to fund these expansion and capability-build efforts. Wheeler Bio is an Oklahoma City-based contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO) focused on the gene-to-IND supply chain. Its primary product is Portable CMC, an open-source "CMC middleware" that integrates discovery CROs and CDMOs to streamline translational steps. Portable CMC includes a complement of integrated development services, including manufacturability assessments, stable pool and clone development, process and analytical method development, process demonstration, and technology transfer into CGMP production. The platform also enhances business integrations that speed up translational steps while lowering technical, regulatory, and business risks. Wheeler Bio plans to use the $31M Series A to complete its CGMP cell banking and 500 L drug substance manufacturing facility in The Ziggurat in downtown Oklahoma City. Leadership includes CEO Dr. Jesse McCool, Chief Development Officer Dr. Brian Berquist, and Christian Kanady. Wheeler Bio offers Portable CMC™, a platform that integrates with preclinical discovery to accelerate the discovery-to-IND path. Portable CMC is designed to provide faster, easier, and more predictable tech transfer and clinical supply by partnering with preclinical CROs and antibody drug developers. The company has an initial focus on antibody therapeutics and is partnered with Alloy Therapeutics to extend discovery offerings into IND-enabling manufacturing. Wheeler Bio is headquartered in Oklahoma City and operates pilot labs inside Alloy Therapeutics’ Boston facility. It closed a $14M Seed financing to expand its team and make Portable CMC more broadly available. Scientific and operational leadership for Portable CMC is led by CTO Dr. Stephen Hamilton, and the company emphasizes speed, predictability, and shared success with CDMO and CRO partners.

Participated · Series A · Jan 2023

iVexSol is a Lexington, MA–based technology-driven CDMO focused on production of lentiviral vectors (LVVs) for cell and gene therapies. Its platform uses banks of vector-producing cells to produce LVV at greater quantities than current approaches and to facilitate rapid scale-out within a smaller manufacturing footprint. The company is currently focused on generating stable LVV cell lines using each client’s gene of interest to enable an on-demand supply of vector. iVexSol says these advances enable shorter clinical development timelines, reduced costs, and increased global access for patients. The company intends to use the funds to advance process and analytical technologies, expand technical teams in Quality, Regulatory and cGMP operations, and augment infrastructure to support production of stable LVV producer cell lines. The company is led by co-founder and CEO Dr. Rodney Rietze. iVexSol develops a proprietary, next-generation stable lentiviral vector (LVV) production process intended to produce LVVs at significantly greater quantities than traditional transient transfection methods. The company’s core product is commercial-grade LVV and stable LVV producer cell line master banks for use in cell and gene therapy manufacturing. iVexSol says its technology enables a smaller manufacturing footprint and rapid scale-out to meet global demand, aiming to provide vector supply “on-demand” to shorten clinical timelines and reduce costs. The company plans to use the Series A proceeds to establish a cGMP manufacturing facility in Lexington, MA. Leadership includes co-founder and CEO Dr. Rodney Rietze, who framed the technology as addressing supply bottlenecks and long production wait times. Financially, iVexSol closed a $13.0M Series A as part of $15.2M raised to date. iVexSol is a Boston, MA-based viral vector manufacturing company led by CEO Dr. Rodney Rietze. The company is built on a proprietary, stable lentiviral vector production process intended to transform how gene-delivery vehicles are made. Its technology aims to reduce the complexity, cost, and development time of critical reagents for cell and gene therapies. iVexSol positions its platform to accelerate development and improve access for CGT researchers and manufacturers. In January 2019 the company raised $2.0m in new convertible debt funding. The company intends to use the funds to advance the development of its solutions.