Cassidy Bio raises $8M Seed round to build AI-first platform for designing genetic medicines
Founders include CRISPR, AI, and biotech veterans focused on improving safety and specificity in therapy development.
Cassidy Bio, a biotechnology startup aiming to transform the design of gene-editing therapies, emerged from stealth on Thursday with an $8 million Seed round and a pitch that positions artificial intelligence as the missing foundation for scaling genetic medicine. The round was led by Ahren Innovation Capital, with participation from lool Ventures, 10D VC, and funding via AION Labs’ venture-seeding track from AstraZeneca and Merck KGaA.
While genome editing has delivered isolated breakthroughs, the company argues that progress remains constrained by slow, manual design processes and by persistent challenges around target selection, delivery, efficacy, and specificity. Cassidy Bio says its answer is an AI-driven genomic foundation model built to give therapy developers “clinical confidence” at the very first stages of design.
At the center of the platform is a system that merges proprietary wet-lab data, population-scale genomic information, and advanced machine learning to predict the optimal combinations of guides, enzymes, and delivery approaches for specific therapeutic contexts. By shifting from trial-and-error to predictive modeling, the company aims to provide a scalable, end-to-end workflow for genome editing, one capable of accelerating the creation of safer and more reliable therapies.
“The promise of genome editing will only be realized when we move beyond isolated successes and build a foundation that can scale,” said CEO Rom Kshuk. “Clinical confidence at the earliest stages of design is essential if we are to unlock the full potential of this field and bring therapies to millions of patients who stand to benefit.”
Cassidy Bio was founded by Kshuk, CRISPR scientist Ayal Hendel, PhD, and AI researcher Yaniv Shmueli, PhD, and the company unveiled a scientific advisory board that includes senior figures from Editas Medicine, the University of Pennsylvania, Ultima Genomics, and Intellia Therapeutics. The startup says its platform, continuously trained and validated through wet-lab experimentation, is already enabling precise guide RNA design using “best-in-class editing systems.”
