Radical Numerics has emerged from stealth with $50 million in seed funding to develop multimodal AI models capable of interpreting DNA, RNA, and proteins for drug discovery.

Key Points

• The $50 million seed round was led by Emergence Capital, with additional backing from Obvious Ventures, Triatomic Capital, and Stripe CEO Patrick Collison.
• Founders Eric Nguyen, Michael Poli, Stefano Massaroli, and Armin Thomas previously developed the Evo and Evo 2 models while working at Liquid AI.
• The company’s technology aims to analyze entire biological systems simultaneously, moving beyond the single-modality focus of competitors like Isomorphic Labs.
• Radical Numerics has secured early partnerships for pancreatic cancer detection and pathogen characterization with a national laboratory.
• The startup’s revenue model includes API licensing, the development of proprietary models for pharmaceutical partners, and performance-based milestone payments.

Why it Matters

This startup aims to solve the systemic bottlenecks in drug development by integrating complex biological data into a single, unified AI model. By moving beyond single-modality analysis, the company could significantly accelerate the discovery of new therapeutics and diagnostic tools in a market projected to reach $25 billion by 2035.