Imperagen, a UK techbio startup combining AI and quantum physics to accelerate enzyme engineering, has secured £5 million in seed funding led by PXN Ventures, with participation from existing investors IQ Capital and Northern Gritstone.
The new investment brings Imperagen’s total funding to £8.5 million and will support expansion of its R&D operations, wet lab capabilities, AI team, and commercial growth over the next 18 months.
Coinciding with the funding round, experienced deep tech executive Guy Levy-Yurista has joined the company as CEO. With multiple successful exits across the US and Europe, he is expected to lead Imperagen through its next phase of growth and commercialization.
Imperagen is focused on transforming enzyme engineering, a critical process used across industries including pharmaceuticals, personal care, sustainable chemicals, and industrial biotech. Traditional enzyme development methods often rely on slow, costly manual screening processes with low success rates, while newer zero-shot AI approaches frequently struggle under real-world conditions.
The company’s platform combines quantum physics simulations, problem-specific AI models, and automated robotics into a closed-loop system designed to continuously improve enzyme performance. Quantum simulations first generate millions of mutation possibilities digitally, which are then used to train specialized AI models tailored to specific engineering challenges. Automated robotics then test the best-performing predictions in physical labs, feeding experimental data directly back into the system to refine future predictions.
According to Imperagen, this recursive feedback loop allows the platform to become smarter with every testing cycle, dramatically increasing efficiency and accuracy in enzyme development.
The company has already demonstrated strong commercial potential through collaborations with major industry players, including a Fortune 500 personal care company. Using its AI-guided system, Imperagen improved the productivity of two enzymes by 677x and 572x respectively in just five experimental rounds.
CEO Guy Levy-Yurista said companies positioned to thrive in the AI-driven future will be AI-native, deeply technical, and powered by real-world data, adding that Imperagen combines those strengths with advanced technology and scientific talent.
The funding will also support Imperagen’s expansion into key sectors including pharmaceuticals, life sciences, sustainable fine chemicals, industrial biotech, and personal care, while helping convert growing market interest into long-term commercial contracts.
Imperagen was founded in 2021 by Andrew Almond, Andrew Currin, and Tim Eyes, all researchers from the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology at the University of Manchester.