AI for Protein Design: DeepMind Alum’s Startup Comes Out of Stealth with $50M

Latent Labs, a company developing AI models for computational protein design, has raised $50 million in funding and announced its emergence from stealth. The funding includes a $40 million Series A, co-led by Radical Ventures and Sofinnova Partners, with participation from Flying Fish, Isomer, 8VC, Kindred Capital, and Pillar VC. Additional investors include Google Chief Scientist Jeff Dean, Aidan Gomez (Cohere), and Mati Staniszewski (ElevenLabs).

Latent Labs aims to apply generative AI techniques to create new protein structures. The company's platform is designed to assist researchers in generating and optimizing therapeutic molecules, including antibodies and enzymes, with the goal of improving molecular properties such as affinity and stability.

The company is led by Simon Kohl, who previously co-developed AlphaFold2 and co-led DeepMind’s protein design team. Other key members include Alex Bridgland, who contributed to AlphaFold 1, 2, and 3; Annette Obika-Mbatha, formerly a Program Manager at DeepMind’s AI for Science team; and Dave Yuan, who has worked on synthetic biology platforms at Zymergen and Mammoth Biosciences. 

The technical team includes researchers with backgrounds in foundation models, antibody design, and AI-driven biology, such as Jonathan Crabbé (formerly at Microsoft Research), Henry Kenlay (previously at Exscientia), and Sebastian Schmon (who developed generative models for biology at Altos Labs). Supporting operations, Sandy Nelson, former head of DeepMind’s Science Team, advises on strategy and talent, while Krishan Bhatt and Sarah Watzek, both with DeepMind hiring experience, lead talent acquisition. The team is based across London and San Francisco, with a focus on both AI model development and experimental validation in laboratory settings.

Latent Labs London team (From left to right: Annette Obika-Mbatha, Krishan Bhatt, Dr Simon Kohl, Agrin Hilmkil, Alex Bridgland and Henry Kenlay)

Aaron Rosenberg, a partner at Radical Ventures and former Head of Strategy & Operations at DeepMind, stated that Latent Labs is positioned to advance de novo protein design, a capability that has gained attention following breakthroughs in AI-driven protein structure prediction. Edward Kliphuis of Sofinnova Partners also highlighted:

"Latent Labs transforms biology from an observational science into an engineering craft, granting us precise control over life’s building blocks. In practical terms, it means crafting bespoke molecules that tackle challenges once thought insurmountable. It’s a revolution in our ability to harness nature’s building blocks to develop breakthrough treatments and transform our lives. With pharmaceutical companies overwhelmingly demanding agile, next-generation tools to accelerate discovery and improve patient outcomes, Latent Labs is at the forefront of this rapidly growing market need."

Topics: AI & Digital