Altitude Lab Startups Raise $154M in Capital
Altitude Lab, founded by Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX), announced that its incubating startups have raised $154 million in early-stage funding since 2020. The lab awarded its inaugural Gibson Founder Fellowship to Carmen Kivisild, CEO of Elnora AI, providing $150,000 in funding and support.
Key achievements include:
- 19 current startups and 12 alumni
- 70% of startups led by underrepresented founders
- 90% of participating startups have raised capital
Notable portfolio milestones include Peel Therapeutics completing Phase 1 trial and initiating Series A, Rebel Medicine receiving IND approval and starting Series A, Sethera appointing Moderna co-founder as advisory board chair, and Teiko launching a 25-marker spectral flow cytometry assay.
Altitude Lab, fondata da Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX), ha annunciato che le sue startup incubate hanno raccolto 154 milioni di dollari in finanziamenti per le fasi iniziali dal 2020. Il laboratorio ha assegnato il suo primo Gibson Founder Fellowship a Carmen Kivisild, CEO di Elnora AI, fornendo 150.000 dollari in finanziamenti e supporto.
I principali risultati includono:
- 19 startup attuali e 12 alumni
- Il 70% delle startup è guidato da fondatori sottorappresentati
- Il 90% delle startup partecipanti ha raccolto capitali
Le pietre miliari significative del portafoglio includono Peel Therapeutics che completa la fase 1 della sperimentazione e avvia la serie A, Rebel Medicine che riceve l'approvazione IND e inizia la serie A, Sethera che nomina un co-fondatore di Moderna come presidente del consiglio consultivo e Teiko che lancia un saggio di citometria a flusso spettrale a 25 marcatori.
Altitude Lab, fundada por Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX), anunció que sus startups incubadas han recaudado 154 millones de dólares en financiamiento de etapa temprana desde 2020. El laboratorio otorgó su primera beca Gibson Founder Fellowship a Carmen Kivisild, CEO de Elnora AI, que proporciona 150.000 dólares en financiamiento y apoyo.
Los logros clave incluyen:
- 19 startups actuales y 12 alumni
- El 70% de las startups son lideradas por fundadores subrepresentados
- El 90% de las startups participantes han recaudado capital
Los hitos notables de la cartera incluyen a Peel Therapeutics completando la fase 1 del ensayo y comenzando la serie A, Rebel Medicine recibiendo la aprobación IND y comenzando la serie A, Sethera nombrando a un cofundador de Moderna como presidente del consejo asesor, y Teiko lanzando un ensayo de citometría de flujo espectral de 25 marcadores.
Altitude Lab는 Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX)에 의해 설립되었으며, 2020년 이후로 인큐베이팅 스타트업들이 1억 5천 4백만 달러의 초기 단계 자금을 모금했다고 발표했습니다. 이 연구소는 Elnora AI의 CEO인 Carmen Kivisild에게 첫 번째 Gibson Founder Fellowship을 수여하며 15만 달러의 자금과 지원을 제공했습니다.
주요 성과는 다음과 같습니다:
- 현재 19개의 스타트업과 12명의 졸업생
- 스타트업의 70%가 저대표 창립자에 의해 이끌림
- 참여 스타트업의 90%가 자본을 모금함
주목할 만한 포트폴리오 이정표로는 Peel Therapeutics가 1단계 시험을 완료하고 시리즈 A를 시작했으며, Rebel Medicine이 IND 승인을 받고 시리즈 A를 시작했으며, Sethera가 Moderna의 공동 창립자를 자문 위원회 의장으로 임명하고, Teiko가 25개 마커 스펙트럼 유세포 분석법을 출시한 것입니다.
Altitude Lab, fondée par Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX), a annoncé que ses startups incubées ont levé 154 millions de dollars en financement de phase initiale depuis 2020. Le laboratoire a décerné sa première bourse Gibson Founder Fellowship à Carmen Kivisild, PDG de Elnora AI, fournissant 150 000 dollars en financement et en soutien.
Les réalisations clés comprennent :
- 19 startups actuelles et 12 anciens élèves
- 70 % des startups sont dirigées par des fondateurs sous-représentés
- 90 % des startups participantes ont levé des fonds
Les jalons notables du portefeuille incluent Peel Therapeutics qui a complété l'essai de phase 1 et a lancé la série A, Rebel Medicine qui a reçu l'approbation IND et a commencé la série A, Sethera qui a nommé un co-fondateur de Moderna comme président du conseil consultatif, et Teiko qui a lancé un essai de cytométrie en flux spectral à 25 marqueurs.
Altitude Lab, gegründet von Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX), gab bekannt, dass seine inkubierten Startups seit 2020 154 Millionen Dollar an Frühphasenfinanzierungen gesammelt haben. Das Labor verlieh seine erste Gibson Founder Fellowship an Carmen Kivisild, CEO von Elnora AI, die 150.000 Dollar an Finanzierung und Unterstützung bereitstellt.
Wichtige Erfolge umfassen:
- 19 aktuelle Startups und 12 Alumni
- 70 % der Startups werden von unterrepräsentierten Gründern geleitet
- 90 % der teilnehmenden Startups haben Kapital gesammelt
Bemerkenswerte Meilensteine im Portfolio umfassen Peel Therapeutics, das die Phase 1-Studie abgeschlossen und die Serie A initiiert hat, Rebel Medicine, das die IND-Zulassung erhalten und die Serie A gestartet hat, Sethera, das einen Mitgründer von Moderna zum Vorsitzenden des Beratungsausschusses ernannt hat, und Teiko, das einen 25-Marker-Spektralflusszytometrie-Assay eingeführt hat.
- Portfolio startups raised $154M in early-stage funding since 2020
- 90% success rate in capital raising among participating startups
- High diversity representation with 70% of startups led by underrepresented founders
- None.
Insights
The success of Altitude Lab represents a sophisticated ecosystem strategy that extends beyond traditional corporate venture capital. The $154 million raised by portfolio companies validates Recursion's thesis that Utah can become a competitive biotech hub, potentially creating network effects that benefit its core business.
The accelerator's portfolio achievements demonstrate strategic depth: Peel Therapeutics' advancement to Phase 1 and Rebel Medicine's IND approval indicate strong clinical development capabilities within the ecosystem. These successes could create valuable partnership opportunities and potential acquisition targets for Recursion, effectively serving as an extended R&D pipeline at fraction of the cost.
The selection of Elnora AI for the Gibson Fellowship is particularly strategic. Their AI-powered lab protocol optimizer could complement Recursion's automated experimentation platform, potentially improving operational efficiency across their massive-scale wet lab operations. The comprehensive dataset being built from academic research, including negative results, could prove invaluable for training more robust AI models for drug discovery.
The accelerator's metrics reveal sophisticated execution: 70% diverse leadership and 90% fundraising success rate suggest effective founder selection and support mechanisms. This approach helps Recursion establish itself as a key node in the biotech innovation network, providing early access to emerging technologies and talent while diversifying risk through portfolio investments.
The establishment of the BioHive Hub in Salt Lake City, with Recursion as a founding member, mirrors successful biotech ecosystem development in Boston and San Francisco. However, Utah's lower operating costs and growing talent pool could provide portfolio companies with longer runways and better capital efficiency. This competitive advantage could accelerate the development of breakthrough therapies while creating substantial value for ecosystem participants.
The Accelerator Awards
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, Altitude Lab announced that its incubating startups have collectively raised
In addition, Altitude Lab awarded its inaugural Gibson Founder Fellowship to Carmen Kivisild, Ph.D., CEO and founder of Elnora AI. The fellowship provides early-career scientists with up to
“Elnora AI is capturing real-world experimental data directly from academic researchers—positive, negative, and everything in between. This enables our AI-powered lab protocol optimizer, helping researchers get their experiments working faster while building the most comprehensive dataset for drug discovery,” said Kivisild. “The Gibson Fellowship gave us critical funding and an anchor community as we relocated from Estonia to Utah. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be mentored by Chris Gibson, Recursion’s CEO and founder, while rapidly scaling Elnora at Altitude Lab.”
Applications for the 2025 Gibson Founder Fellowship are now open.
“In 2025, we anticipate a wave of Series A funding rounds from our alumni and broader founder community,” said Chandana Haque, executive director of Altitude Lab. “Our founders achieved major value inflection points in 2024, and we are thrilled to see them continue scaling.”
Key Milestones from Altitude Lab’s Portfolio:
- 19 startups in Altitude Lab’s current cohort and 12 alumni
-
70% of startups are led by at least one underrepresented founder -
90% of all participating startups have raised capital - Peel Therapeutics completed a Phase 1 trial for its PEEL-224 TOP1 inhibitor and closed the first tranche of its Series A
- Rebel Medicine received IND approval for Alevatrix and closed the first tranche of its Series A
- Sethera established Dr. Robert Langer, MIT faculty and co-founder of Moderna, as chair of their Scientific Advisory Board
- Teiko launched a 25-marker spectral flow cytometry assay on fixed whole blood, combining high-throughput immune measurement of ~150 populations with extended stability for global clinical trials.
Applications to join Altitude Lab’s newest cohort are now open. Learn more and apply for residency and the Founder Fellowship at altitudelab.org.
About Altitude Lab
Altitude Lab is building a new, representative generation of founders to seed the next cycle of health care innovation in Utah’s BioHive. Currently located in Gateway’s BioHive Hub in Salt Lake City, Altitude Lab is an accelerator program focused on early stage life science and health care companies. The initiative is part of a larger city plan and collaborative vision from Recursion to foster socially-responsible entrepreneurship, job creation, and economic productivity. The Recursion Foundation, under which Altitude Lab operates, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
Learn more at altitudelab.org or connect on X.
About Recursion
Recursion (NASDAQ: RXRX) is a clinical stage TechBio company leading the space by decoding biology to radically improve lives. Enabling its mission is the Recursion OS, a platform built across diverse technologies that continuously generate one of the world’s largest proprietary biological and chemical datasets. Recursion leverages sophisticated machine-learning algorithms to distill from its dataset a collection of trillions of searchable relationships across biology and chemistry unconstrained by human bias. By commanding massive experimental scale — up to millions of wet lab experiments weekly — and massive computational scale — owning and operating one of the most powerful supercomputers in the world, Recursion is uniting technology, biology and chemistry to advance the future of medicine.
Recursion is headquartered in Salt Lake City, where it is a founding member of BioHive, the Utah life sciences industry collective. Recursion also has offices in Toronto, Montréal, New York, London, Oxford area, and the San Francisco Bay area. Learn more at recursion.com, or connect on X (formerly Twitter) and LinkedIn.
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