See the pitch deck a biotech startup used to raise $25 million to develop light-up biosensors that can quickly diagnose diseases
Sarah Braner
- Monod Bio just raised $25 million in seed funding from investors like Matrix Capital.
- The company creates biosensors to diagnose diseases more efficiently than traditional lab tests.
Monod Bio, a biotechnology company focused on creating biosensors that can quickly and accurately diagnose diseases, has announced it raised $25 million in seed capital on August 15. The Seattle company is a spinout from the Institute for Protein Design at the University of Washington led by the protein expert David Baker, which has spun out seven other biotech startups.
Monod, which was founded in 2021, is creating biosensors that emit light when they detect biomarkers such as proteins or antibodies that indicate a disease is present. Like a glucometer that can test the sugar levels of a diabetic, Monod's founders want their device to quickly measure the presence of disease in a single step — cutting out the need for lab tests with long wait times.
"There is no other technology that will allow you to do this as our platform will do in terms of simplicity and cost," Monod's CEO and president, Daniel-Adriano Silva, told Insider.
Silva is a biologist and entrepreneur focused on protein design. Previously, he was a cofounder and the vice president of research at Neoleukin, another spinout from the Institute for Protein Design. Monod's chief operating officer, David Shoultz, was an executive director at Neoleukin. The company was cofounded by Silva, Shoultz, Baker, and Alfredo Quijano Rubio, Monod's chief scientific officer.
The lead investor in the seed round was Matrix Capital. Global Health Investment Corp., Cercano Management, the Washington Research Foundation, Boom Capital Ventures, Sahsen Ventures, and Pack Ventures also participated in the round.
Monod plans to use the funding to continue research and development on its products and expand the company.
"We are building our team, technology, and corporate value," Silva said.
Here is the 12-slide pitch deck the biosensor startup Monod Bio used to raise $25 million in seed funding:Monod Bio is a Seattle company aiming to use light-emitting biosensors to diagnose diseases.
Monod's LucCage platform creates biosensors capable of detecting molecules in bodily fluid that indicate the presence of a disease. When those molecules are present, the biosensor lights up.
The company has shown it can create biosensors to detect the spike protein on the virus that causes COVID-19, as well as some receptors that indicate the presence of cancer and a molecule that appears after a heart attack.
The company is named after Jacques Monod, a researcher known for his work in biological systems where a condition has to be met for something to happen. In the case of LucCage, the biosensor has to be exposed to a specific substance for it to light up.
Monod's biosensors can be made to detect certain proteins, a building block of life, or antigens, which are substances that can trigger an immune response.
According to Monod Bio, the benefit of the LucCage platform is that it can quickly make new biosensors to identify different targets with great accuracy.
LucCage biosensors can also be customized to report the detection of a substance in several ways.
Monod hopes its biosensors will be faster and simpler than traditional diagnostics and able to diagnose a variety of illnesses.
Monod's management team mostly hails from the Baker lab at the University of Washington, where Monod originated.
"We believe this, in the cell sector, in particular, will enable much simpler, much cheaper, much faster testing of biomarkers," Silva said.
Monod will use this influx of capital to further develop its technology, according to Silva.
"We are first going to focus on growing the platform and try to bring it to its full potential," Silva said.
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