Wayfinder Biosciences raises $3.5M to program RNA

The company uses computational design to control the function of RNA for molecular detection and therapeutics. 

SEATTLE, Oct. 17, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- RNA design company Wayfinder Biosciences announced today that it raised a $3.5 million series seed round led by Notation Capital and Divergent Capital to continue its groundbreaking work in the use of RNA as a detection and therapeutic platform.

RNA is best known as a messenger that carries the blueprints for the cell's protein machinery, as seen in the recent mRNA vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 and in the pipeline of innovative gene therapies on the horizon. RNA, however, is also a versatile cellular machine in itself. Some of RNA's functions include regulating disease, sensing molecules, and performing CRISPR applications. Wayfinder Biosciences combines the expansive capabilities of RNA with exclusive biophysical algorithms and proprietary design rules. Thanks to Wayfinder's platform, long-desired advanced functionality can be engineered into RNA in dramatically shorter time than existing technologies.

"Wayfinder's platform is reimagining the way we think about RNA from the ground up," said Milad Alucozai, head of Life Sciences of BoxOne Ventures and one of the company's first investors. "They are able to control where, when and how much RNA functions by designing the 'logic' of RNA itself. This opens new possibilities across the field, from detecting all sorts of molecules at high speed, to discovering new drugs, and even to engineering new therapeutics that activate only in the right cells and only at the right time."

Joining the series seed round in Wayfinder Biosciences are SOSV's IndieBio, BoxOne Ventures, Notley Biosciences, Reinforced Ventures, Genesis Consortium, Conscience VC, Social Starts Health and Happiness, Overlap Holdings, and other biotech and health investors. The company graduated from SOSV's IndieBio program in San Francisco and the Computational Health stream of Creative Destruction Lab in Seattle.

"We're thrilled to be leading Wayfinder's round along with Notation Capital. Their impressive RNA design platform is the key to drive rapid breakthroughs in the nascent field of RNA molecular detectors and therapeutics," said Lucy Wang of Divergent Capital. "While a typical company in this space goes through years of development and iteration to reach the first application, there are already a number of use cases that the team is working on with customers to generate commercial value from day one." 

Wayfinder Biosciences will use the fresh capital to scale its RNAs design platform, with a particular focus on expanding into new verticals in the therapeutic space. "This seed round brings together an exceptional group of investors who believe in our vision of what is possible when RNA can be designed with high precision at the molecular level," said Wayfinder's CEO Jason Fontana. 

www.wayfinderbio.com 

SOURCE Wayfinder Biosciences, Inc.