Mandrake Bio raises Rs 16 crore to build AI-powered gene-editing platform for agriculture, medicine

Bengaluru-based startup Mandrake Bio has successfully raised ₹16 crore in a recent funding round aimed at developing an innovative AI-powered gene-editing platform. This financial influx will enable the company to expand its teams in artificial intelligence and biophysics, crucial for validating their platform's capabilities. Mandrake Bio leverages generative AI technology to design novel gene-editing enzymes, which could significantly expedite the development of improved agricultural crops and medical therapies. The startup's primary goal is to reduce both the timelines and costs associated with gene-editing processes.

The funding round was co-led by early-stage venture firms Activate, founded by Aakrit Vaish, and Antler India. It also received backing from Spectrum Impact, DeVC, and several angel investors, including notable figures such as biotech veteran Vijay Chandru and entrepreneur Paras Chopra. The fresh capital will be instrumental in accelerating the startup's research and development efforts, particularly in 'wet-lab' validation, which involves practical experiments to test the efficacy of their gene-editing tools.

Founded in 2025 by Tanay Lohia and ICAR scientist Kutubuddin Molla, Mandrake Bio has assembled a diverse team of ten experts, including AI researchers, computational biologists, and molecular scientists. This multidisciplinary approach is central to their mission, as they aim to combine cutting-edge AI with deep biological science to create entirely new gene-editing tools. Pratyush Choudhury, co-founder of Activate, emphasized the importance of integrating AI with fields such as biology and chemistry, suggesting that the next wave of AI advancements will emerge from these intersections rather than from software alone.

The Challenge of Gene Editing

Gene editing has long been heralded as a transformative technology, offering the potential to develop crops that are more resilient to climate change and therapies capable of treating various diseases. Despite significant advancements, such as the CRISPR technology, researchers have traditionally relied on naturally occurring DNA-editing enzymes, which present challenges in terms of cost and adaptability for diverse applications. Mandrake Bio aims to address these limitations by utilizing artificial intelligence to redesign these essential tools.

Lohia, the CEO of Mandrake Bio, explained that DNA editing serves as a foundational technology applicable across various domains, whether for agricultural improvements or gene therapies. Historically, researchers had to identify enzymes from nature and invest years in refining them for specific uses. However, with the advent of generative AI, Mandrake Bio claims it can design entirely new enzymes within two to three weeks, followed by laboratory validation. This rapid development process stands in stark contrast to conventional methods, which can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.

The company’s approach diverges from traditional gene-editing strategies that typically rely on established systems like CRISPR-Cas9. Instead, Mandrake Bio employs open-source protein language models that are trained on biological sequences. These models are further refined using the company’s proprietary metagenomic database to generate new gene-editing enzymes. This innovative method allows the AI to sift through thousands of potential protein candidates, significantly reducing the number of costly laboratory experiments required for validation.

Implications for Agriculture and Medicine

Mandrake Bio is initially focusing on the agricultural sector, where conventional gene-editing workflows can take seven to eight years to produce an improved crop variety. The startup anticipates that its purpose-built gene-editing tools could potentially cut this development timeline down to approximately two years. Such advancements could not only enhance agricultural productivity but also make gene-editing therapies more accessible and affordable.

Currently, existing gene-editing therapies can be prohibitively expensive, ranging from $2 million to $2.5 million for a single gene edit. Mandrake Bio's advancements in enzyme design could reduce these costs to around ₹50-60 lakh, thereby democratizing access to cutting-edge gene therapies. This reduction in both cost and development time could have profound implications for the biotechnology landscape, making innovative treatments more feasible for a broader range of patients and applications.

In conclusion, Mandrake Bio's innovative approach to gene editing through the integration of AI technology represents a significant step forward in the field of biotechnology. By addressing some of the major bottlenecks in gene-editing processes, the startup is poised to make substantial contributions to both agriculture and medicine, potentially revolutionizing how we approach genetic modifications in the future.