HotHouse Therapeutics secures £2.9m in pre-seed funding from SynBioVen and others to develop sustainable plant-based medicines.
The Norwich-based drug discovery startup emerged from stealth with backing from SynBioVen, Start Codon, UKI2S, Twin Path Ventures, Wren Capital, angels, and Innovate UK.
HotHouse Therapeutics is a drug discovery platform company that develops sustainable pharmaceutical compounds through AI-optimised plant-based chemistry. The Norwich-based startup creates scalable molecules to transform modern medicine and address critical supply chain dependencies.
HotHouse Therapeutics has emerged from stealth mode with £2.9m in pre-seed funding to advance its AI-powered plant bioengineering platform. The round was backed by a syndicate including SynBioVen, Start Codon, UKI2S, Twin Path Ventures, Wren Capital, angel investors, and an Innovate UK grant. The capital will support the company as it tackles global reliance on unsustainable pharmaceutical sources, starting with vaccine adjuvants such as QS-21. The Norwich-based enterprise uses transient plant expression systems to generate novel molecules on accelerated timelines, aiming to provide carbon-positive manufacturing and improve global health access.
From the founder
"We grow greener medicines using a platform that makes the impossible accessible. The drug discovery field desperately needs new chemical space and the vaccine field needs new adjuvants, with supply chains that work for everyone. By combining AI with plant engineering, we can reach molecules others cannot, and scale them in a way that supports global health, not just high-income markets."
David Sheppard
CEO at HotHouse Therapeutics
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About the company
HotHouse Therapeutics
HotHouse Therapeutics develops sustainable pharmaceutical compounds using an AI-optimised plant-based chemistry platform.