Tolemy Bio lands €1.4M pre-seed to make cell therapy manufacturing reproducible by design

Experimental records in cell biology are still scattered across notebooks and disconnected spreadsheets, and most teams lack an integrated system to trace which process variable determined the outcome of a batch.

Founded in Cambridge in 2024 by Alex Ward (Co-Founder and CEO) and Caelan Anderson (Co-Founder), Tolemy Bio is developing Orbit: an AI-native platform that unites bench data, virtual cell models, and AI research agents within a single environment designed for cell biology teams. Cell-type-specific causal AI models ingest growth, phenotype, potency, and metabolite readouts from existing laboratory sources, while virtual-cell simulators run counterfactual scenarios. The platform then recommends process and media adjustments, without requiring teams to change their current workflows. The company has two commercial partnerships live: with Qkine on protein and media optimisation for cell and gene therapy manufacturing (January 2025), and with GeminiBio, with whom it co-developed aiMOS, described at launch as the first AI-enabled media optimisation service for cell therapy manufacturing (February 2026).

Tolemy Bio has raised €1.4 million in pre-seed funding, led by Norrsken Evolve, with Big Sur Ventures, JME Ventures, Masia, and a new UK-based stealth fund also participating. The capital will fund data generation and early customer deployments.

Tolemy Bio's causal AI approach addresses a specific evidence gap targeted by the regulation: determining which process variables influence cell performance well before a therapy is submitted for regulatory approval.

Sources: Tolemy Bio | EMA, ATMP Legal Framework

Founders: Alex Ward, Caelan Anderson