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Protein engineering companies are transforming drug development, synthetic biology, and precision therapeutics. These companies apply artificial intelligence, generative modeling, and molecular simulation to optimize protein design, improve enzyme efficiency, and enable targeted therapies.
From autonomous AI agents and tunable antibody cages to custom proteases and precision antibiotics, these technologies support faster development timelines, lower production costs, and higher therapeutic specificity.
In this article, we spotlight 10 emerging protein engineering startups to watch in 2025, each selected for their technological depth, application focus, and disruptive impact on life sciences.
Global Startup Heat Map highlights Emerging Protein Engineering Startups to Watch
Through the Big Data & Artificial Intelligence (AI)-powered StartUs Insights Discovery Platform, covering over 7M+ startups, 20K+ technology trends, plus 150M+ patents, news articles & market reports, we identified 10 protein engineering companies.
The Global Startup Heat Map below highlights the protein engineering startups you should watch in 2025 as well as the geo-distribution of 183 startups & scaleups we analyzed for this research.
According to our data, we observe high startup activity in the US and the UK, followed by Germany. The top 5 startup hubs for protein engineering companies are Cambridge, San Francisco, New York City, London, and San Diego.
Meet Emerging Protein Engineering Startups to Watch in 2025
We hand-picked startups to showcase in this report by filtering for their technology, founding year, location, funding, and other metrics. These protein engineering startups work on solutions ranging from protein sequence design and therapeutics to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and protein engineering agents.
- Levitate Bio – AI-driven Protein Engineering Software
- Conigen Bioscience – Multimeric Soluble Proteins
- Amineo – AI-powered Protein Design
- Tamarind Bio – Computational Tools for Protein Design
- Archon Biosciences – Geometrically Tunable Protein Therapeutics
- PRIME IT AI – Custom Protein Designs
- AI-Driven Therapeutics – Autonomous Protein Engineering Agent
- Cycuria Therapeutics – Engineered Protein-based Targeted Therapy
- KPL ApS – Platform for Protease Engineering
- Glox Therapeutics – Precision Protein Antibiotics
1. Levitate Bio
- Founding Year: 2024
- Location: Kirkland, Washington, US
- Use For: AI-driven Protein Engineering Software
US-based startup Levitate Bio develops AI-powered software for protein engineering, modeling, and design through its products – Levitate Bench and Levitate Engine.
Levitate Bench is a browser-based GUI that allows researchers to perform tasks such as protein structure prediction, conformation optimization, mutation design, and immunogenicity analysis.
Moreover, Levitate Engine provides a flexible API platform enabling custom protein design workflows, including physical modeling, AI-based design, and liability prediction, all running in the cloud.
Levitate Bio facilitates accessible, high-throughput protein engineering for researchers and developers across the life sciences.
2. Conigen Bioscience
- Founding Year: 2023
- Location: Worcester, Massachusetts, US
- Use For: Multimeric Soluble Proteins
US-based startup Conigen Bioscience engineers recombinant multimeric proteins for use in antibody discovery and translational research.
It uses its Conigen Soluble Protein (CSP) Technology Platform to engineer ectodomains with a proprietary cis-dimer motif and stabilization domain to form dimers or trimers that mimic native membrane protein structures.
Moreover, it utilizes mammalian expression systems to retain correct folding and glycosylation. Conigen Bioscience thus enables researchers to screen antibodies, design immunogens, and characterize bioactivity using proteins that reflect natural receptor-ligand interactions.
3. Amineo
- Founding Year: 2024
- Location: Toulouse, France
- Use For: AI-powered Protein Design
French startup Amineo utilizes AI-powered protein design, physics-based modeling, robotics-inspired simulations, and machine learning to engineer protein sequences.
This combination of features allows for various protein properties to be targeted for optimization, including thermal resistance, activity, solubility, specificity, selectivity, or affinity.
The system applies atomic force fields to predict protein behavior under stress. Moreover, the automated reasoning engine combines inputs from robotic algorithms and deep learning with user-defined requirements.
4. Tamarind Bio
- Founding Year: 2023
- Location: San Francisco, California, US
- Use For: Computational Tools for Protein Design
US-based startup Tamarind Bio builds computational tools for protein design. It integrates advanced machine learning models into a unified platform for structure prediction, sequence optimization, and binder design.
These tools predict immune protein structures, redesign and optimize antibody CDRs for specific antigens, and generate de novo nanobody binders. The platform provides web-based access.
Further, it allows protein engineers to retain full ownership of their input data and derivatives, with all computations secured on a private cloud infrastructure.
5. Archon Biosciences
- Founding Year: 2023
- Location: Seattle, Washington, US
- Use For: Geometrically Tunable Protein Therapeutics
US-based startup Archon Biosciences develops geometrically tunable protein therapeutics to target disease pathways inaccessible to conventional technologies.
It creates antibody cages by integrating the binding affinity and specificity of antibodies with generative protein design to control antibody orientation.
Further, the structural precision enables differentiated biodistribution and target engagement at the cellular level to enhance therapeutic effect.
Moreover, the platform integrates AI-driven design with structural biology to transform drug discovery challenges into engineering solutions.
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6. PRIME IT AI
- Founding Year: 2024
- Location: Paphos, Cyprus
- Use For: Custom Protein Designs
Cyprus-based startup PRIME IT AI designs custom proteins using AI-powered algorithms that allow scientists to replace experimental methods and thus reduce both time and costs. This way it allows them to predict protein structures and generate precise modifications in silico.
Hence, it identifies effective mutations without the need for lab-based screening. This solution improves enzyme thermostability and increases production rates. The startup enables faster protein development and supports innovation through scalable, efficient engineering solutions.
7. AI-Driven Therapeutics
- Founding Year: 2024
- Location: Leipzig, Germany
- Use For: AI-powered Autonomous Protein Engineering Agent
German startup AI-Driven Therapeutics builds an AI-powered autonomous agent for protein engineering that navigates protein sequence space, generates novel candidate sequences, and evaluates their suitability for specific design tasks.
Moreover, it deploys deep learning, advanced computational techniques, and domain expertise to drive the design process. The platform uses artificial intelligence and digital twin technology to replace traditional research pipelines and reduce reliance on multiple specialized researchers.
8. Cycuria Therapeutics
- Founding Year: 2024
- Location: Graz, Austria
- Use For: Engineered Protein-based Targeted Therapy
Austrian startup Cycuria Therapeutics provides engineered protein-based therapies for acute myeloid leukemia (AML). It applies protein engineering to modify a human cytokine that selectively targets leukemic cells and leukemic stem cells, while preserving healthy hematopoietic stem cells.
Moreover, the therapy induces death and differentiation in leukemic populations without harming normal blood formation. The engineered proteins bind specifically to leukemic targets, maintain immune-activating functions, and show extended half-life for sustained activity.
Also, they reduce systemic toxicity by avoiding non-specific effects on healthy tissues. Cycuria Therapeutics overcomes therapy resistance and relapse by eliminating the root drivers of AML progression.
9. KPL ApS
- Founding Year: 2024
- Location: Copenhagen, Denmark
- Use For: Platform for Protease Engineering
Danish startup KPL ApS engineers highly specific sequencing-grade proteases through an advanced protein engineering platform. It advances proteomics, enzyme design, and synthetic biology to create and refine novel proteases with high specificity.
The startup streamlines all the stages of protein engineering, from genetic strain development to enzyme expression and purification. This approach enhances precision, performance, and production speed in engineered protease development.
Further, the startup enables researchers to accelerate protein research and improve experimental outcomes through reliable, custom-engineered proteases.
10. Glox Therapeutics
- Founding Year: 2023
- Location: Glasgow, UK
- Use For: Precision Protein Antibiotics
- Funding: Secured EUR 4.3 million in Seed funding
UK-based startup Glox Therapeutic produces precision protein antibiotics that target drug-resistant bacteria. It utilizes a proprietary platform to engineer antimicrobial proteins to kill specific Gram-negative pathogens such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Klebsiella pneumoniae.
The targeted mechanism avoids disrupting beneficial bacteria and reduces the risk of resistance. This way, Glox Therapeutics treats severe infections associated with antimicrobial resistance in hospital and chronic care settings.
Discover All Emerging BioTech Startups
The BioTech startups showcased in this report are only a small sample of all startups we identified through our data-driven startup scouting approach. Download our free BioTech Innovation Report for a broad overview of the industry or get in touch for quick & exhaustive research on the latest technologies & emerging solutions that will impact your company in 2025!
