Antiverse, a Cardiff-based developer of AI-driven antibody discovery platforms, has raised $9.3M in Series A funding led by Soulmates Ventures. The platform generates functional antibodies against hard-to-drug targets like GPCRs and ion channels in six months using generative AI, custom cell lines, and multiparameter screening. The capital will expand the platform for partners and push proprietary programs to preclinical studies by 2027.
Biotech IPO Wave Aids Series A
The raise follows Generate Biomedicines securing $400M in its February 2026 IPO, the largest biotech listing since 2024, bringing its total to over $700M. Absci has raised $388M+ for end-to-end antibody manufacturing. Antiverse's niche in GPCRs differentiates it from broader platforms amid investor appetite for AI biologics.
GPCRs Block 60% Drug Targets
GPCRs and ion channels represent 60% of drug targets yet yield few antibodies due to 90% clinical attrition rates for biologics. Traditional discovery takes years with low success on membrane proteins. Pharma partnerships signal urgency for faster solutions against cancer, neurology, and rare diseases like cystic fibrosis.
Generative AI Speeds Epitope Design
Antiverse trains models over seven years on challenging targets, designing epitope-specific libraries that outperform general de novo approaches. Custom cell engineering boosts expression 10,000x, enabling multiparameter clustering for high-humanness binders. Unlike LabGenius's evolution focus ($74M raised), Antiverse integrates lab-in-the-loop validation across phage, bacterial, and mammalian systems.
Nabla Bio ($40M+) tackles GPCRs computationally, but Antiverse adds proprietary screening for functional validation in months. As CEO Murat Tunaboylu explained:
"Build a genuinely differentiated technology foundation… reduces development timelines… to under four months."
This precision addresses data scarcity in undruggable targets.
Regional Funds Signal Validation
Soulmates Ventures led with its €62M sustainability fund, joined by Wales' Innovation Investment Capital, DOMiNO Ventures, Development Bank of Wales, Kadmos Capital, and i&i Biotech Fund. Prior seed backers continued, blending local scale-up support with biotech specialists. Total funding exceeds $20M, signaling conviction in AI for impactful therapeutics.
Antibody Discovery Hits $3.5B
The antibody discovery market grows from $1.9B in 2025 to $3.54B by 2030 at 13.3% CAGR. AI platforms like Generate advance to Phase 3 while Absci optimizes manufacturing. UK policies, including £60M to phase out animal testing, favor Antiverse's in silico methods.
Veteran Chairman Drives Exits
Chairman Peter Pack co-invented Morphosys' HuCAL library (IPO) and sold mtm laboratories after building it internationally. He raised €125M+ as Crescendo Biologics CEO. Co-founders Ben Holland (Oxford engineering, medtech) and Murat Tunaboylu (Thermo Fisher synthetic biology) complement with 15+ years each in ML and automation.
Preclinical Push by 2027
Funds target platform scaling, proprietary GPCR/ion channel candidates to in vivo by 2027, and Cystic Fibrosis Foundation collaboration for CFTR antibodies. Recent hires include CSO Phillip Monk (25+ years discovery) and Gherici Hassaine (GPCR expert), plus computational roles.