Houdini Bio raises £1.5m in pre-seed funding and grants led by SCVC to improve gene therapy durability.
SCVC led the pre-seed round with backing from Deep Science Ventures and Cambridge Enterprise VC to help the startup expand its team and partnerships.
Cambridge-based biotechnology startup developing software that redesigns therapeutic DNA to prevent cellular silencing. The firm uses machine learning to improve gene therapy durability and performance.
Houdini Bio has secured approximately £1.5m in a pre-seed funding round and grants. SCVC led the investment, with participation from Deep Science Ventures and Cambridge Enterprise VC.
The Cambridge-based startup applies machine learning to redesign therapeutic DNA sequences, helping treatments bypass the HUSH protein complex which often deactivates gene therapies inside the body. The firm plans to direct the new capital towards expanding its team and establishing co-development partnerships with pharmaceutical companies.
The fresh funding arrives as the gene therapy sector grapples with high manufacturing costs and durability issues, where successful clinical trials can lose efficacy in commercial applications due to cellular rejection.
From the founder
"Cellular machinery still rejects these therapies, limiting long-term effectiveness and forcing costly, unsafe doses. Our platform introduces a vital shift from trial-and-error screening to repeatable, engineering-driven DNA design,"
Jonathan Cohen-Gold
Chief Executive at Houdini Bio
Investor perspective
"Gene therapies really do represent the future of medicine, but they are stuck behind an invisible commercial and biological bottleneck,"
Harry Destecroix
Managing Partner, SCVC
Use of funds
- 01Grow the team
- 02Fund the next phase of growth
Investors
-20webclip.png)
Categories
About the company
Houdini Bio
Houdini Bio develops software that redesigns therapeutic DNA so the body does not attack it.