Cradle (company)
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Biotechnology · Artificial intelligence |
| Founded | May 2021 |
| Founders | Stef van Grieken · Jelle Prins · Elise de Reus · Eli Bixby · Harmen van Rossum |
| Headquarters | Amsterdam , |
Number of locations | Amsterdam (HQ); Zurich, Switzerland |
Key people | Stef van Grieken (CEO) |
| Products | Software for protein engineering |
| Website | www |
Cradle Bio B.V. (doing business as Cradle) is a Dutch–Swiss biotechnology company that develops software using machine learning for protein engineering. It was founded in 2021 and is based in Amsterdam, with an office in Zürich.[1][2]
History
Cradle was founded in 2021 by Stef van Grieken, Jelle Prins, Elise de Reus, Eli Bixby and Harmen van Rossum.[1] In November 2022 the company raised a €5.5 million seed round led by Index Ventures.[2] It raised a US$24 million Series A financing in November 2023, led by Index Ventures.[3] In 2024 the company announced a US$73 million Series B round led by IVP.[4][5]
Technology
According to TechCrunch, Cradle's platform applies techniques derived from large language models to generate amino‑acid sequence variants predicted to exhibit user‑selected properties (such as stability or binding).[1] Subsequent coverage reported use by pharmaceutical companies and performance improvements in protein design experiments.[6]
Recognition
Cradle was listed by Wired as one of the "Hottest Startups in Amsterdam in 2024" and was included in Bloomberg's "25 European Startups to Watch" list in 2025.[7][8] In February 2024 the business magazine MT/Sprout named Cradle its Startup of the Year 2024.[9] In February 2025 Business Insider Nederland published a feature profile on the company’s AI‑driven antibody research and expansion of its Amsterdam laboratory.[10]
See also
References
- ^ a b c "Protein programmers get a helping hand from Cradle's generative AI". TechCrunch. 16 November 2022.
- ^ a b "Cradle raises €5.5m to 'reverse engineer' biology with machine learning". Sifted. 16 November 2022.
- ^ "GenAI biotech Cradle raises $24m Series A led by Index Ventures". Sifted. 14 November 2023.
- ^ "Cradle builds out its protein-design AI platform (and wet lab) with $73M in new funding". TechCrunch. 26 November 2024.
- ^ "Cradle Bio raises $73M Series B to sell pharma its protein-making AI software". Endpoints News. 26 November 2024.
- ^ "Cradle's AI-powered protein programming platform levels up with $24M in new funding". TechCrunch. 27 November 2023.
- ^ "The Hottest Startups in Amsterdam in 2024". Wired. 14 October 2024. Archived from the original on 14 October 2024.
- ^ "25 European Startups to Watch". Bloomberg. 9 June 2025. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
- ^ "Eiwit‑innovator Cradle is Startup van het Jaar: 'Volgende Nederlandse unicorn'". MT/Sprout (in Dutch). 9 February 2024. Retrieved 25 July 2025.
- ^ "In Amsterdam vinden ze door AI sneller nieuwe antilichamen voor medicijnen: 'Onze software ontwerpt eiwitten'". Business Insider Nederland (in Dutch). 19 February 2025. Retrieved 25 July 2025.