Persist AI, a Sacramento, CA-based pioneer in AI-driven robotics for pharmaceutical formulation development and Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC), closed a $12m Series A financing round.
The round was led by Spero Ventures with participation from MBX Capital, Shimadzu Future Innovation Fund managed by Global Brain Corporation, Eli Lilly & Company, SignalFire, Ford Street Capital, Purdue Ventures, Good AI Capital, Cartography Capital, Asymmetry Ventures, and existing investors 2048 Ventures, Innospark, and YCombinator.
The company intends to use the funds to expand the robotic lab and build comprehensive data sets that train its AI models, and expand the capacity and range of formulations the AI models and robotic lab can predict, build, and test.
Led by Karthik Raman, CEO, Christopher Shelner, Chief Operating Officer, Persist AI leverages predictive AI models with automated robotic systems to enable pharmaceutical companies to develop drug formulations using robotic laboratory facilities through a website.
Once the AI models predict a set of formulations, its Cloud Lab enables pharmaceutical scientists to test the formulation by remotely controlling the robotic lab with a combination of miniaturization and automation of testing instruments.
Through the newly launched Cloud Lab, pharmaceutical companies worldwide can now remotely build and test formulations on Persist’s advanced robotic facilities to develop:
- Long acting injectables
- Tablets and capsules
- Topical formulations for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals
- Injectable formulations
The platform supports a wide range of modalities including peptides, small molecules, antibodies, and anti-sense oligonucleotides, currently serving multiple top 10 pharmaceutical clients and several smaller biotechs developing next-generation treatments for chronic diseases.
Persist AI, a Y Combinator-backed startup, having graduated from the accelerator in 2023, will build a GMP manufacturing system for long acting injectables, in collaboration with Nivagen Pharmaceuticals in Sacramento, CA.
FinSMEs
19/05/2025