CerraCap Ventures invests in biopharma AI startup Totient
CerraCap Ventures announced its third health-tech investment in Totient, an artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery platform that identifies and harnesses human-derived antibodies from individuals with exceptional immune responses.
Operating at the intersection of traditional biotechnology and AI, Totient's platform has analyzed the immune repertoire of over 50,000 patients to identify high affinity antibodies against known and novel tissue-specific targets. Totient has demonstrated an ability to correctly assemble antibodies from bulk patient RNA sequencing data, without the need for specialized single-cell or antibody sequencing. The company's mission is to build deepest library of disease-derived tissue-specific immunogenic antigens and fully human antibodies.
Vikas Datt, Partner, CerraCap Ventures: "Totient combines machine learning with the natural learning and evolution happening within the human body in order to do antibody discovery at a massive scale. Under the leadership of CEO Deniz Kural, PhD and CBO James Sietstra who are seasoned entrepreneurs with a track record of life science deals, Totient is well positioned to partner with companies developing cell therapies, ADCs, and bispecific to meet its mission."
Deniz Kural, CEO, Totient: "Over the last two years our team built and validated a unique population-scale discovery platform to assemble high-affinity antibodies from tissues affected by autoimmunity, infections, and cancer. With the support of our investors like CerraCap we intend to advance a subset of our proprietary antibodies into the clinic while pursuing a broad and flexible partnering strategy for other candidates in parallel."
Interviews.
[Interview] Caroline Mutuku, General Manager, Glovo, Kenya
Caroline Mutuku is Kenya's General Manager of multi-category app Glovo. Caroline joined Glovo in December 2022 from Swvl Kenya where she also served as the General Manager from December 2021. In this interview...read more here
[Interview] Renate Swanepoel, COO, INC. Networking
Renate Swanepoel is an entrepreneur, global networker and inspirational speaker that has helped thousands of people around the world to find their purpose. She has gained significant networking and communication...read more here
[Interview] Anne-Marie Chidzero, Chief Investment Officer, FSD Africa
Anne-Marie Chidzero is the Chief Investment Officer at the Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa) Investments. In this interview, she talks about the risks and opportunities in backing Africa’s early-stage startups...read more here
[Interview] James Kilpatrick, Chair, Gravitilab, UK
Gravitilab is a "Space as a Service" business providing research, testing and qualification facilities to space agencies, government, academia and commercial enterprises. The company’s Chair and Chief Finance Officer...read more here
[Interview] Ramanjeet Singh, CEO, Woosper, USA
Woosper is a US-based digital advertising and marketing agency focused on creating experiences that help clients discover their place in the digital world. The CEO Ramanjeet Singh...read more here