Poland-based Deepflare picks up €1.5 million to fast-track mRNA vaccine development with AI

Polish startup that uses AI and Machine Learning (ML) to accelerate mRNA vaccine development, Deepflare has raised €1.5 million in funding. The pre-seed round, based on a combination of equity and R&D grants, will help the company further develop its technology and ML models outside of Poland, primarily in the EU, the U.K., and the U.S.

The equity round was led by German fund Sunfish Partners, with the participation of Estonian VC Lemonade Stand and angel investors Przemek Kowalczyk and Szymon Sypniewicz, co-founders of Ramp. The R&D grants were provided by Poland’s National Centre for Research and Development and the Polish Development Fund.

Founded by Piotr Grzegorczyk, Grzegorz Preibisch and Stanisław Giziński in Warsaw, the company launched back in 2020 with the initial goal to help develop next-gen RT-PCR tests for SARS-CoV-2. The technology was used to analyse around 50% of all SARS-CoV-2 genomes sequenced in Poland. Now, the company is using its technology and AI prediction models to boost the development of mRNA vaccines and drugs against other viral diseases.

Piotr Grzegorczyk, co-founder and CEO of Deepflare said: “During the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw an unprecedented pace of vaccine and drug development worldwide and massive adoption of mRNA vaccines. It has almost instantly caused the next wave of scientific innovations and the accelerated development of mRNA vaccines targeting other deadly pathogens, including Ebola, HIV, Malaria, Zika, and many more. We’ve developed AI technology and ML models that help both accelerate the drug development process and increase vaccine efficacy against current and future variants of the viruses.”

Dr Marcus Erken, founding partner at Sunfish Partners, concluded: “What if we could stop the next virus from causing a pandemic? What if we could keep its damage to a minimum by predicting future mutations early on? What if we could finally find vaccines for diseases such as HIV? Much potential, but also many tough challenges lie ahead for mRNA vaccines. Deepflare has the potential to play a significant role in this field down the road.”