Persist AI, an AI-driven robotics platform for the pharmaceutical industry, announced an overscribed $12 million Series A funding round.
Spero Ventures led the round, with participation from MBX Capital, Shimadzu Future Innovation Fund managed by Global Brain Corporation, Eli Lilly & Company, SignalFire, Ford Street Capital, Purdue Ventures, Good AI Capital, Cartography Capital, Asymmetry Ventures and existing investors 2048 Ventures, Innospark and YCombinator.
The company also announced the launch of its Cloud Lab platform, which enables pharmaceutical companies to develop formulations using Persist AI’s state-of-the-art robotic laboratory facilities via a website.
The aim is to expedite drug development timelines using a fragment of the materials required by traditional methods.
WHAT IT DOES
Persist AI allows pharmaceutical companies to forecast formulation recipes and performance utilizing advanced AI models as well as build and test them with robotic systems.
By incorporating predictive AI models with automated robotic systems, the company says pharmaceutical firms can develop drug formulations quickly and cost-effectively compared to traditional approaches.
The funding will be used to build a manufacturing practice system for long-acting injectables (LAIs) in cooperation with Nivagen Pharmaceuticals.
According to the company, the funds will also be used to grow its robotic lab, build thorough datasets to train its AI models, and expand the size and scope of formulations the AI models and robotic lab can predict, build and test.
“AI is enabling pharma to discover new molecules faster than ever,” Karthik Raman, CEO of Persist, said in a statement.
“But a molecule that has poor shelf life cannot become a drug product that sits on a shelf. Our mission is to convert these novel molecules into products, such as tablets and injections that patients can use. If you can find a new drug molecule, you can predict its formulation and use our robotic platform to build and test it in the real world.”
MARKET SNAPSHOT
In 2024, Persist AI and Nivagen collaborated to co-develop a next-generation manufacturing process for long-acting injectable drugs, using Persist’s AI-based formulation technology and Nivagen’s manufacturing capabilities.
The partnership aimed to simplify and accelerate the development and approval of LAI drugs, which could provide sustained and controlled drug release over weeks or months, improving patient adherence and outcomes.
Also last year, Persist AI raised $4 million in a seed financing round led by 2048 Ventures, with participation from Innospark Ventures, Fellows Fund, Pioneer Fund, Y Combinator and Jovono.
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