pi Ventures leads $1 Million Seed Funding Round for immunitoAI

By: WE Staff

immunitoAI is a Bangalore-based biotechnology startup that is developing an artificial intelligence-based antibody detection and discovery platform. It raised $1 million on Wednesday. The seed round was led by Pi Ventures, and Entrepreneur First also participated in the round. The funds raised by the startup will be utilised for product development and industry partnerships.

“Our focus at pi has been to invest in startups that are revolutionizing industries using disruptive technology. This thesis is well reflected in immunitoAI, our first investment from our recently launched Fund II. The company’s AI-led platform will make the antibody discovery process faster and cheaper, enabling targeted therapy for multiple diseases. We are delighted to partner with Aridni and Trisha, who bring a unique combination of biotech and AI to the table,” said Roopan Aulakh, Managing Director, pi Ventures.

“Integration of AI with biology has become a reality today. Biology has always been difficult to study and understand, but with the use of AI, we have started to bridge the gaps and what was thought to be impossible earlier has become possible. Our vision is to make antibody therapy a norm with the help of our technology. We plan on using this seed funding to develop our AI products and validate the predictions through biological experiments,” said Aridni Shah, CEO and Co-founder,  immunitoAI.

Aridni Shah and Trisha Chatterjee founded immunitoAI in Bangalore in November 2020. This start-up company designs and tests candidate antibodies for a given antigen. It is an in-silico antibody discovery startup that uses artificial intelligence to provide fast and accurate solutions. Aridni is PhD in Biological Sciences and has 9 years of experience in immunoassays, molecular technology and data analysis. Trisha has a master's degree in computer science and 6 years of research and development experience in the application of artificial intelligence and machine learning in various industries.

immunitoAI aims to dramatically increase the number of antibodies discovered, making targeted therapy the norm in the future. The start-up company also plans to develop its own candidate antibody in the mid to long term.