Cambridge-based startup OutSee has secured £1.8 million in seed funding to accelerate its use of artificial intelligence in genomics for drug discovery.
The funding round was led by Ahren Innovation Capital, a deep-tech and life sciences venture fund co-founded by investors and leading scientists, including former Chief Scientific Adviser Sir Mark Walport and Nobel Laureate Sir Greg Winter. Ahren has backed several high-profile UK science ventures and is known for supporting companies at the intersection of breakthrough science and commercial potential.
Joining the round were Kadmos Capital, an early-stage VC firm focused on enabling paradigm shifts in life sciences, and Empirical Ventures, a Cambridge-based fund that invests in high-risk, high-reward deep tech startups. Also participating was Panacea Ventures, a cross-border healthcare investor with offices in the UK, US and China, known for backing early- and growth-stage biotech and medtech firms with global ambitions.
OutSee has also received over £500,000 in grant funding from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, which backed the company’s work applying its AI platform to dementia research.
Dr Julian Gough, Founder of OutSee
Founded by computational biologist Dr Julian Gough, OutSee has developed an AI platform called Nomaly. Unlike traditional data analysis tools, Nomaly can identify disease-causing mechanisms using only a single genome. The company says this allows researchers to uncover insights from small or previously analysed datasets that conventional methods would miss.
“Nomaly allows us to interrogate smaller datasets, and even data that has already been analysed, to uncover unique target insights that until now would have remained undetected,” - Dr Gough, Founder at OutSee
With the new funding, OutSee plans to grow its internal drug development pipeline with a focus on neurological disorders, rare diseases and metabolic conditions. It is also exploring partnerships with pharmaceutical and biotech firms.
Dr Joanna Green of Ahren Innovation Capital commented: “OutSee’s predictive genomics platform enables therapeutic developers to precisely comb their data in a way that has never before been possible. Nomaly has great potential to unlock a deeper understanding of genomic data.”
OutSee is part of a growing wave of biotech companies applying artificial intelligence to reduce the time and cost of drug discovery. The company aims to bring more precision and efficiency to the early stages of therapeutic development.
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