The Venture Codex

Participated · Series B · Oct 2025

Cartography Biosciences develops antibody-based cancer therapies by integrating large-scale single-cell datasets with computational biology through its ATLAS and SUMMIT discovery platforms. The company aggregates petabyte-scale proprietary data from healthy tissues and tumor profiles and applies machine learning and AI to identify tumor-restricted antigens and antigen combinations. Its platform supports the design of logic-gated and highly selective antibody therapeutics aimed at improving specificity and therapeutic index. Cartography is advancing a pipeline of oncology programs with its lead candidate, CBI-1214, a T-cell engager for colorectal cancer that entered clinical testing in early 2026 and is currently enrolling patients in a Phase 1 trial. The company stated that the strategic investment from Samsung Ventures will help accelerate its oncology programs and expand its drug discovery capabilities.

Participated · Series B · May 2024

LabGenius develops next-generation therapeutic antibodies using its proprietary EVA™ discovery platform, which integrates machine learning, robotic automation and synthetic biology. The company operates a hybrid business model that pairs partnering with large biotech and pharmaceutical companies alongside a wholly-owned therapeutic pipeline. LabGenius plans to use the new funding to further develop its ML-driven drug discovery platform and to advance a pipeline of multispecific antibodies for the treatment of solid tumours toward the clinic. Led by CEO Dr. James Field, the company recently refreshed its board with appointees from new investors alongside existing directors. Financially, the Series B brings the company’s total funding to date to £58M. The company is based in London, UK. LabGenius is a London-headquartered machine learning-driven protein engineering company whose core technology is the EVA™ platform for rapid discovery of novel therapeutic antibodies. EVA has been used to co-optimize mono- and multi-specific single-domain antibodies for biochemical and biofunctional properties including stability, potency and selective tumor cell killing. The platform leverages predictive models to identify non-intuitive protein designs that perform well across multiple therapeutically valuable properties. LabGenius was awarded a competitive SMART grant from Innovate UK (part of a £25 million fund) to expand EVA's capabilities and accelerate optimization of antibody-based immune cell engager molecules. The funding will support R&D focused on lead optimization to improve selective cell killing profiles and reduce on-target, off-tumor effects. The company’s multidisciplinary team combines expertise in computer science, robotic automation and synthetic biology to advance computational technologies in R&D. LabGenius is a London-based biotech company that uses machine learning, robotic automation and synthetic biology to develop protein therapeutics. Its platform, EVA, is designed to rapidly identify and test potential new drugs by systematically searching billions of protein designs and experimentally validating those predicted to perform well. The approach aims to cut the cost and risk associated with drug development by integrating software and engineering into biology. The company notes that protein therapeutics represent roughly 30 percent of total pharmaceutical sales, underscoring the market opportunity. LabGenius recently closed a $15 million Series A extension, bringing the Series A to $25 million, providing capital to advance its platform. LabGenius develops a machine learning-driven, robotic platform called EVA that designs, conducts and learns from its own experiments to discover novel proteins. The company positions itself as a full-stack protein engineering operation that uses empirical computation engines to tackle hard protein-discovery problems. Its business model mixes partner-financed discovery programs (R&D payments, milestones and royalties) with an internal asset development effort. LabGenius runs commercial projects with pharma partners to move candidates to early preclinical stages; one ongoing collaboration is with Tillotts Pharma AG to discover IBD drug candidates. The startup intends to scale its team and expand the scope of its discovery platform using newly raised capital. LabGenius aims to evolve novel antibody fragments and build an integrated biopharmaceutical company powered by its protein engineering platform. LabGenius is a London-based synthetic biology startup that uses AI to evolve and engineer biological systems to create new materials. The company's core product is EVA, an autonomous AI-driven evolution engine designed to accelerate discovery and optimization of biological constructs. Following a $3.66M seed raise, LabGenius plans to establish an R&D facility in Central London to scale its lab operations. The seed round was jointly led by Kindred Capital and Acequia Capital, with participation from Backed VC, Beast Ventures, Berggruen Holdings, System.One, Charlie Songhurst and angel Tom McInerney. Foundational technology was co-developed by founder and CEO Dr. James Field and CSO Harry Rickerby, with prior funding from Innovate UK, BBSRC and SynbiCITE. The company has secured R&D contracts from the UK Ministry of Defence and several multinationals and is actively hiring to support growth.