The Venture Codex

Participated · Series A · Mar 2026

Carecubes develops the Carecube ISTARI, an FDA 510(k)-cleared isolation unit built for rapid deployment to enable safe bedside care while isolating pathogens. The product was developed in partnership with infectious disease experts at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and initially funded by DARPA with further support from the CDC and ASPR. Carecubes reports commercial traction, with purchases by hospitals, clinics, and emergency response systems in over 36 communities across 13 states and territories and named customers including Bellevue Hospital of NYC Health+Hospitals and Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center. The company manufactures the units in Minnesota and works with suppliers and partners across multiple U.S. states. Leadership includes CEO Alex Laskey and co-founder Saul Griffith, and the organization has assembled a board and advisors with deep healthcare operations experience. The company announced a $6.5 million Series A in March 2026 to advance its deployment and scale, though the release did not disclose specific revenue figures or a valuation.

Participated · Series C · Nov 2025

Aspen Neuroscience is pioneering personalized regenerative medicine by converting a patient’s own skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells and then into dopaminergic neuronal precursor cells to treat neurodegenerative diseases. Its lead candidate, ANPD001, is the most advanced autologous cell therapy in the U.S. for moderate to advanced Parkinson’s disease and has received FDA Fast Track designation. The company’s proprietary manufacturing platform integrates machine-learning-based genomic testing for rigorous quality control and scalability, and it includes a precision MRI-guided delivery device for minimally invasive transplantation. Recent clinical progress includes initiation of Cohort 3 in a Phase 1/2a trial, with earlier cohorts showing favorable safety and clinician- and patient-reported improvements without the need for immunosuppression. Aspen plans to expand its pipeline to additional neurological indications while scaling manufacturing to meet future commercial demand. Headquartered in San Diego, the private company has raised more than $340 million to date, including an $8 million grant from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.

Participated · Series A · Jun 2024

Vilya builds a proprietary computational drug design and development platform that uses advanced machine learning and generative AI to design de novo molecular structures. The company focuses on novel macrocycles—molecules sized between small molecules and antibodies—to target previously difficult-to-drug therapeutic targets. It is advancing a pipeline of these macrocycles intended to precisely target disease biology. Vilya intends to use new funding to accelerate both its platform development and its therapeutic pipeline. The company’s scientific leadership includes David Baker, Ph.D., and its executive team includes CEO Cyrus Harmon, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer Katerina Leftheris, Ph.D., Co‑Founder and CTO Patrick Salveson, Ph.D., and Co‑Founder and VP Business Development Inca Dieterich, Ph.D. Vilya has operations in Seattle and South San Francisco. Vilya operates a proprietary platform powered by advanced machine learning to design de novo molecular structures that sit between small molecules and antibodies. The company’s artificial, biologic‑like molecules are engineered to be membrane‑permeable, disrupt protein‑protein interactions, and be highly selective for their targets. IPD scientists published a Cell paper describing accurate de novo design of membrane‑traversing macrocycles that underpin Vilya’s foundational technology. Vilya intends to leverage this computational design capability to pursue previously difficult‑to‑drug therapeutic targets across a broad set of indications. The company launched in Seattle with $50 million in committed Series A financing led by ARCH Venture Partners. Its co‑founding team combines researchers from the Institute of Protein Design and leaders from ARCH Venture Partners.

Participated · Series A · Oct 2022

Ochre Bio is a biotechnology company developing RNA therapies for chronic liver diseases using deep phenotyping, precision RNA medicine, and testing in live human donor livers. The company has generated spatial‑sequencing, single‑cell sequencing, and imaging data in over 1,000 diseased human livers across three continents. Ochre has launched 'Liver ICUs' across the US to test RNA‑based drug candidates directly in human livers. Proceeds from the Series A will be used to translate discovery research into RNA drug candidates and to fund human liver preclinical testing in 2023 to select therapies for clinical development in 2024. The company plans to broaden its discovery and development platforms, including a state‑of‑the‑art RNA chemistry platform and an exploratory platform to expand research into a wider set of liver diseases. Ochre's longer‑term goals include regenerating organs in patients and improving the viability of marginal donor livers to reduce the need for transplants. Ochre Bio develops RNA medicines for chronic liver diseases and uses deep phenotyping ('phenomics') to digitize liver biology at scale. The company has generated large amounts of spatial genomics data from freshly donated human livers and uncovered hundreds of novel potential liver targets that are being validated in their labs. By 2022, Ochre plans to build a complete in silico human liver of over 10^11 measurements to predict the effect of perturbing any gene in major liver cell types. In addition to computational work, Ochre tests therapeutics in explanted human livers maintained extracorporeally and has developed a full-stack GalNAc-siRNA development process validated in actively perfused human livers. Planned uses of recent funding include advancing RNA therapies, expanding the deep phenotyping platform, onboarding five transplant center partners to test therapies on discarded donor livers, and moving products toward clinical development; the company also opened a Taiwanese lab to study liver disease in Asia. Ochre is based in Oxford, England and is built on over 15 years of experience in liver genomics and advanced therapies.

Participated · Series A · Jun 2022

Transition Bio operates the Condensomics™ platform, a microfluidics-driven system that generates proprietary high-throughput data to map biomolecular condensates. The company applies a physics-first approach and machine learning to enable condensate target identification and small-molecule drug discovery. Transition Bio recently closed a $50 million Series A financing to accelerate its platform and translational efforts. The funding will be used to scale up the technology and translate the science across a variety of targets and disease areas. The company launched in September 2020 and maintains teams in the U.S. and U.K., with announcements listing Cambridge, Mass. and Cambridge, England. Recent corporate developments include hiring Shilpi Arora as senior vice president of discovery research and board additions from its new investors. Transition Bio was formed and launched to build technological capabilities for evaluating and advancing the study of biomolecular condensates, branded internally as Condensomics™. The company intends to replace the industry’s reliance on conventional technologies for studying condensates by deploying unique physical-science methods, microfluidics, and big-data approaches. Transition Bio aims to be the world leader in discovery, analysis, and modulation of biological condensates and to generate hypothesis-free drug development opportunities. Its research organization is led by Assaf Rotem, Ph.D., with scientific teams based in Cambridge, MA (the company’s headquarters) and Cambridge, UK. Founding scientific leadership includes Professor David Weitz (Harvard) and Professor Tuomas Knowles (University of Cambridge). The company recently completed an initial close of its Series Seed financing at the end of September, led by Lifeforce Capital.