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Profluent

Category: AI in Healthcare

An AI-first protein design company that utilizes large language models (LLMs) to 'write' and design novel, functional proteins and gene editors from scratch. Profluent was founded in 2022. The company is led by Ali Madani. Based in Emeryville, USA. Team size: 11-50. Total funding raised: $150M total. Latest round: Series B ($106M, Nov 2025). Key investors include Spark Capital, Insight Partners, Air Street Capital, Bezos Expeditions, Altimeter Capital, OpenAI, Salesforce AI Research, AIX Ventures, Convergent Research.

Founded
2022
Headquarters
Emeryville, USA
Team size
11-50
Total funding
$150M total

Value proposition

Shifts the paradigm from 'discovering' proteins in nature to 'designing' them for specific functions, significantly accelerating the development of precise gene therapies and novel enzymes.

Products and solutions

OpenCRISPR-1: The world's first open-source, AI-generated gene editing system., ProGen: A foundational LLM architecture for generating functional protein sequences., AI-Generated Integrases: Precise enzymes designed for large-scale gene insertion into the human genome., Proprietary Protein Design Platform: A full-stack solution for custom enzyme and therapeutic protein engineering.

Unique value

Treats the 'language of biology' (DNA and protein sequences) as a programmable code, allowing for the creation of functional biological molecules that have no natural ancestors.

Target customer

Pharmaceutical companies, biotechnology firms, genetic medicine developers, and academic research institutions.

Industries served

Biotechnology, Pharmaceuticals, Gene Therapy, Synthetic Biology

Technology advantage

Combines massive-scale generative AI (trained on over 280 million protein sequences) with a high-throughput 'wet lab' feedback loop to validate AI-designed proteins in real-world biological environments.

How they differentiate

Profluent differentiates by using Large Language Models (LLMs) to 'write' entirely new, functional protein sequences from scratch (de novo design) rather than just predicting the structure of existing ones. Their strategic release of OpenCRISPR-1, the world's first open-source AI-generated gene editor, also distinguishes them as a pioneer in democratizing AI-designed biological tools.

Main competitors

Generate:Biomedicines, EvolutionaryScale (ESM), Cradle

Key partnerships

Nvidia: Utilizing the BioNeMo platform to scale AI model training and inference., Salesforce AI Research: Foundational technological roots and collaborative history in LLM development., Eli Lilly (Lilly): Multi-program R&D collaboration worth up to $2.25B to develop AI-designed recombinases for genetic medicine (Apr 2026)., Ensoma: Partnership to develop AI-designed base editors for hematopoietic stem cell applications.

Notable customers

Nvidia (Strategic BioNeMo Partner), Eli Lilly (Multi-program R&D collaboration, Apr 2026), Ensoma (Base editor partnership), Undisclosed Pharmaceutical Collaborators

Major milestones

Publication of the ProGen model in Nature Biotechnology (Jan 2023), Secured $35M additional funding led by Spark Capital, total raised to $44M (Mar 2024), Launched OpenCRISPR-1, the first open-source AI-generated gene editor (Apr 2024), Announced AI-generated integrases for precise large-scale gene insertion (Oct 2024), Secured $106M Series B co-led by Altimeter Capital and Bezos Expeditions, total funding $150M (Nov 2025), Announced strategic partnership with Eli Lilly worth up to $2.25B for AI-designed recombinases (Apr 2026)

Growth metrics

The company has scaled to approximately 50 employees and trained its foundational models on over 280 million protein sequences. It has successfully validated AI-designed proteins in wet-lab environments with high functional success rates.

Market positioning

An AI-first protein design platform transitioning from foundational model validation to a proprietary therapeutic pipeline, specifically targeting gene editing and enzyme engineering.

Geographic focus

Headquartered in Emeryville, California (USA), with a global reach through open-source initiatives and strategic partnerships with multinational technology and pharmaceutical firms.

Patents and IP

Holds proprietary IP related to the ProGen model architecture and specific AI-generated protein sequences; maintains a strategic balance between open-source releases (OpenCRISPR-1) and patented therapeutic candidates.

About Ali Madani

Ali Madani is a pioneer in the application of generative AI to biological design. Before founding Profluent, he served as a machine learning research leader at Salesforce AI Research. He is most recognized as the architect of ProGen, a landmark project that first demonstrated that large language models (LLMs) could be used to 'write' functional, de novo protein sequences. His work has been featured in premier scientific journals, including Nature Biotechnology, and he holds a PhD in Applied Science and Technology from UC Berkeley.

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