Foundational protein design startup Mandrake Bio has raised around ₹16 crore in a pre-seed funding round co-led by Activate and Antler, as the company looks to accelerate the development of its AI-powered protein design platform for agriculture and medical applications.
The funding round also saw participation from Spectrum Impact and DeVC, along with prominent angel investors including Vijay Chandru, Paras Chopra, Sanjiv Rangrass, and Vatsal Du.
Funding to Strengthen AI-Driven Protein Engineering
According to the company, the fresh capital will be used to enhance its AI-based protein design platform, expand its multidisciplinary research team across artificial intelligence and biophysics, and scale wet lab validation of its programmable gene-editing enzymes.
The startup aims to develop next-generation gene-editing technologies that can be applied across agriculture and healthcare, enabling more precise and efficient genetic engineering.
Building Custom Gene Editing Enzymes
Founded in March 2025 by Tanay Lohia and Kutubuddin Molla, Mandrake Bio combines generative AI, structural biology, biophysics, and experimental validation to create programmable gene-editing enzymes from the ground up.
Unlike conventional gene-editing technologies that depend on naturally occurring systems such as CRISPR-Cas9, the startup designs entirely new enzymes tailored for specific applications.
The company believes this approach can produce smaller, more precise, and highly programmable gene-editing tools, opening new possibilities for crop improvement and genetic medicine.
Accelerating Agriculture and Genetic Medicine
Mandrake Bio’s technology is designed to reduce the time required to develop improved crop varieties through precision gene editing while also supporting the development of therapies for genetic disorders.
The company plans to license its proprietary gene-editing enzymes to seed companies and therapeutic developers, enabling partners to build advanced agricultural products and next-generation medical treatments using its AI-designed proteins.
By integrating artificial intelligence with biological research, Mandrake Bio is positioning itself at the intersection of AI, biotechnology, and synthetic biology, aiming to redefine how programmable proteins are designed for real-world applications.
