Mandrake Bio Raises ₹16 Crore Pre-Seed Round to Build AI-Designed Gene Editing Enzymes
Mandrake Bio combines open-source protein language models with proprietary metagenomic datasets to design novel gene-editing proteins in weeks instead of years.
Computational biology startup Mandrake Bio has raised ₹16 crore in a pre-seed funding round co-led by Activate and Antler, with participation from Spectrum Impact and DeVC.
The round also attracted prominent angel investors, including Vijay Chandru, Paras Chopra, Sanjiv Rangrass, and Vatsal Dusad.
The fresh capital will be used to strengthen the company’s AI-powered protein engineering platform, expand its research teams across artificial intelligence, computational biology, and biophysics, and accelerate laboratory validation of its programmable gene-editing proteins for agricultural and future therapeutic applications.
Founded in March 2025 by Tanay Lohia and Dr. Kutubuddin Molla, Bengaluru-based Mandrake Bio is developing AI-designed programmable gene-editing proteins by combining generative AI, structural biology, protein engineering, biophysics, and experimental validation. Rather than relying solely on naturally occurring CRISPR systems, the company is building novel programmable enzymes tailored for specific applications with the aim of improving editing precision, efficiency, and performance.
Dr. Molla, a leading plant genome-editing scientist, brings extensive experience in CRISPR research and agricultural biotechnology, while the founding team combines expertise in artificial intelligence and computational biology to accelerate biological discovery.
Mandrake Bio combines open-source protein language models with proprietary metagenomic datasets to design new proteins in weeks instead of years. Its platform follows a closed-loop discovery process, where experimental laboratory results continuously feed back into its AI models, enabling iterative improvements and faster development of next-generation gene-editing tools.
The startup is initially targeting the agriculture sector, where it aims to help seed companies shorten crop improvement programmes from several years to nearly two years. Its technology is designed to support the development of higher-yielding crops with improved climate resilience, stronger pest resistance, and reduced dependence on fertilisers.
Over the longer term, Mandrake Bio plans to license its engineered gene-editing proteins to biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies developing precision gene-editing therapies for genetic diseases.