Atomic AI, a biotechnology company fusing machine learning with structural biology to unlock RNA drug discovery, launched today with a $35 million Series A round.
The financing was led by Playground Global, with participation from 8VC, Factory HQ, Greylock, NotBoring, AME Cloud Ventures, and renowned angel investors including GitHub ex-CEO Nat Friedman, Doug Mohr, Curai CEO Neal Khosla, and UC Berkeley professor and Arc Institute Co-founder Patrick Hsu.
“To create effective and safer small molecules against undruggable diseases, there is a significant need to develop tools that can accurately predict 3D RNA structures,” said Raphael Townshend, Founder and CEO of Atomic AI. “Atomic AI is oriented at the cutting edge of AI, RNA, and structural biology. We are creating an entirely new field of drug discovery.”
Atomic AI’s AI-driven 3D RNA structure engine generates RNA structural datasets, integrating machine learning foundation models with large-scale in-house experimental wet-lab biology.
“To date, there has been little advancement in understanding the intricate and complex structure of RNA,” said Jory Bell, General Partner at Playground Global. “We are excited to support Raphael, the impressive interdisciplinary Atomic AI team, and the company’s technology, which has the potential to vastly improve RNA structure prediction and develop a new generation of RNA-targeting medicines to tackle diseases that were previously untreatable.”
