Monomer Bio Raises $5.6 Million to Advance Laboratory Automation in Drug Discovery

Based in San Francisco, Monomer Bio has secured $5.6 million in seed financing to develop its platform that combines laboratory automation with data analytics, aiming to advance scientific research in drug discovery and therapy development. 

The investment round was led by Talis Capital and included contributions from LifeX, Notley Ventures, and individual investors Kevin Mahaffey and Amit Gupta.

The platform developed by Monomer Bio integrates robotic automation with data management, allowing researchers to conduct more extensive and complex experiments. This innovation is expected to expedite the discovery of new drugs and therapies by making laboratory processes more efficient and effective. It leverages deep learning to analyze microscopy images for changes in cell morphology, enhancing the success rate of experiments.

Monomer Bio's technology is gaining traction among entities engaged in cell-based research, such as gene editing and T-cell engineering. Early adopters, including Indee Labs, have reported significant increases in productivity, with an eightfold rise in key cell production attributed to the use of Monomer Bio's platform.

One of the key features of the platform is its compatibility with existing laboratory hardware from major manufacturers, coupled with an intuitive interface that simplifies the operation of automation workflows. Monomer Bio also offers expertise in optimizing laboratory setups to meet the specific needs of its customers, drawing on its team's extensive background in lab hardware and machine learning.

The co-founders of Monomer Bio, Jimmy Sastra and Mark Zhang, have stated that their platform is designed to remove manual bottlenecks in the laboratory, allowing scientists to focus more on their research rather than on the integration of various hardware and software systems. The new funding will be instrumental in expanding the reach of Monomer Bio's solutions, enabling more scientists to benefit from laboratory automation.

Kirill Tashilov, a General Partner at Talis Capital, emphasized the importance of Monomer Bio's platform in addressing the challenges faced by the cell and gene therapy sectors, particularly those related to manual processes and scalability. Talis Capital's investment in Monomer Bio is aligned with its history of supporting companies that redefine their respective industries.