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Scala Biodesign

Category: AI in Healthcare

An AI-powered computational protein engineering platform that uses physics-based modeling to design and optimize stable, functional proteins for therapeutic and industrial applications. Scala Biodesign was founded in 2022. The company is led by Ravit Netzer. Based in Tel Aviv, Israel. Team size: 11-50. Total funding raised: $21.5M. Latest round: Series A (March 2025). Key investors include ["Grove Ventures","TLV Partners","Intel Ignite"].

Founded
2022
Headquarters
Tel Aviv, Israel
Team size
11-50
Total funding
$21.5M

Value proposition

Replaces traditional trial-and-error lab testing with high-precision 'one-shot' computational design, drastically reducing R&D timelines and costs while improving protein stability and specificity.

Products and solutions

["ScalaOS (Cloud-based enterprise protein design platform)","Antibody Optimization & Humanization Tools","Enzyme Engineering for Green Chemistry","Vaccine Antigen Stabilization Solutions","Gene Therapy Component Design"]

Unique value

Integrates atomistic physics-based calculations with evolutionary analysis and AI to predict protein behavior with high accuracy, enabling 'one-shot' optimization without iterative lab cycles.

Target customer

Pharmaceutical and biotech companies, industrial chemical manufacturers, food-tech startups, and agricultural firms.

Industries served

["Pharmaceuticals & Biotherapeutics","Food & Beverage (Alternative Proteins)","Industrial Chemicals","Agriculture (AgriTech)","Sustainability & Circular Economy"]

Technology advantage

Leverages over a decade of validated academic research and algorithms proven in high-stakes applications, such as malaria vaccine trials, to solve 'un-targetable' or highly unstable protein challenges.

How they differentiate

Scala differentiates through its 'one-shot' design approach, combining atomistic physics-based modeling with AI to predict protein stability and function with high precision. Unlike competitors that rely heavily on massive iterative lab-testing loops, Scala’s platform (ScalaOS) aims to produce viable protein designs in a single computational step, significantly reducing R&D costs.

Main competitors

["Cradle","Profluent","Arzeda","Generate:Biomedicines"]

Key partnerships

["Boehringer Ingelheim (Collaboration on challenging drug targets)","Ribbon Bio (Partnership for enzyme innovation in DNA synthesis)","Weizmann Institute of Science (Academic and IP origin)","Intel Ignite (Deep tech accelerator alumnus)"]

Notable customers

["Boehringer Ingelheim","Ribbon Bio"]

Major milestones

["Secured $5.5M Seed funding led by TLV Partners in September 2023","Established strategic collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim for challenging drug targets","Raised $16M Series A led by Grove Ventures in March 2025 to scale the ScalaOS platform","Technology validated through academic roots at the Weizmann Institute, including use in malaria vaccine trials"]

Growth metrics

Scaled from stealth to a team of 11-50 employees; transitioned from academic research to commercial enterprise-ready platform.

Market positioning

Deep-tech enterprise platform provider for protein engineering across Pharma, FoodTech, and Industrial Chemistry.

Geographic focus

Headquartered in Israel (Tel Aviv) with a global customer base across North America and Europe.

Patents and IP

Core technology licensed from the Weizmann Institute of Science via Yeda Research and Development Co. Ltd.; proprietary algorithms developed in-house.

About Ravit Netzer

Dr. Ravit Netzer is a specialist in computational protein design with a PhD in Biomolecular Sciences from the Weizmann Institute of Science. Her research in the laboratory of Prof. Sarel Fleishman focused on developing algorithms to design proteins with high specificity and stability. She co-founded Scala Biodesign in 2022 to commercialize these technologies, which have been published in leading journals such as Science and Nature Communications. Prior to founding Scala, she spent over a decade as a researcher at the Weizmann Institute, bridging the gap between academic discovery and industrial application.

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