Mandrake Bio Raises ₹16 Crore Pre-Seed Funding to Advance AI-Powered Gene Editing Platform

Mandrake Bio Raises ₹16 Crore Pre-Seed Funding to Scale AI-Driven Gene Editing Technology

Bengaluru-based biotech startup Mandrake Bio has raised ₹16 crore in a pre-seed funding round co-led by Activate and Antler, with participation from Spectrum Impact and DeVC. The round also attracted several angel investors, including Vijay Chandru, Paras Chopra, Sanjiv Rangrass, and Vatsal Du.

The company said the fresh capital will be used to enhance its AI-powered protein design platform, expand its research team across artificial intelligence and biophysics, and accelerate wet lab validation of its programmable gene-editing enzymes for agricultural and medical applications.

Developing Custom Gene Editing Enzymes with AI

Founded in March 2025 by Tanay Lohia and Kutubuddin Molla, Mandrake Bio develops programmable gene-editing enzymes using a combination of generative AI, biophysics, and wet lab validation. The startup focuses on designing compact and precise enzymes that can be applied across agriculture and healthcare.

According to the company, its technology has the potential to reduce the time required to develop improved crop varieties through gene editing while also supporting the development of therapies for genetic diseases.

Alternative to Conventional Gene Editing Systems

Unlike traditional gene-editing approaches that rely on naturally occurring systems such as CRISPR-Cas9, Mandrake Bio designs custom gene-editing enzymes from the ground up using generative AI and structural biology.

The startup plans to license its engineered enzymes to seed companies and therapeutic developers, enabling broader adoption of next-generation gene-editing technologies across agriculture and medicine.