Mantra Bio is a technology company.
Mantra Bio has raised $34.0M across 2 funding rounds.
Mantra Bio has raised $34.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Mantra Bio is a biotechnology company developing exosome-based therapeutics for complex diseases, including ophthalmology and infectious diseases.[1][2] It builds engineered Targeted Exosome Vehicles (TEVs) using its proprietary REVEAL platform, which combines AI, machine learning, synthetic biology, computational biology, wet-lab automation, and scalable biomanufacturing to enable precise delivery of therapeutic cargo to specific tissues and cells.[1][2][3][4][5] These TEVs address delivery challenges in precision medicine by leveraging the body's natural exosomes for systemic administration, immune evasion, and targeted biodistribution, solving problems like toxicity from high doses or inefficacy from low doses in traditional methods.[4][5]
Serving patients with hard-to-treat conditions, Mantra Bio tackles unmet needs in areas like cancer biomarkers, infectious agents, neurodegenerative diseases, and cardiovascular diseases, where exosomes show disease-specific biomarkers.[1] Founded in 2016 in South San Francisco, the company raised $25M in Series A funding in 2020 (led by 8VC and Viking Global) and $9M earlier, with estimated annual revenue of $3.2M and 33-41 employees as of recent data.[1][2][3][5]
Mantra Bio was founded in 2016 by a multidisciplinary team including CEO and Co-founder Alex Mok, with expertise in microfluidics, computational biology, and protein engineering.[4][5] The idea emerged from advances in exosome understanding—natural lipid nano-vesicles that act as intercellular messengers—and the need for better delivery of gene and RNA therapeutics.[5] Starting at the Illumina Accelerator, the company developed its REVEAL platform to exploit exosome diversity for engineering TEVs.[5]
Early traction came from building a closed-loop discovery process integrating high-throughput wet-lab experiments with in silico modeling, enabling rapid iteration for superior TEVs across cell types.[4] Key milestones include validating scalable biomanufacturing for high-purity production and securing $25M Series A in July 2020 to advance its pipeline, with Francisco Gimenez, Ph.D., from 8VC joining the board.[5]
Mantra Bio rides the exosome therapeutics wave, fueled by advancements in isolation, analytics, and biomarkers for cancer (10M global deaths in 2020 per WHO), infectious diseases, neurodegeneration, and CVDs.[1] Timing aligns with surging demand for targeted delivery amid RNA/gene therapy growth, government/non-government research initiatives, and market expansion.[1]
Favorable forces include exosome diversity for diagnostics/therapeutics and funding momentum (e.g., Mantra's $9M in 2023, Evox's $95M in 2021).[1] It influences biotech by pioneering TEVs as a safer alternative to LNPs, accelerating precision medicine and enabling therapies for previously intractable diseases through engineered natural vesicles.[4][5]
Mantra Bio's platform positions it to lead exosome engineering, with pipeline acceleration via 2020 Series A funds focusing on lead programs and partnerships.[5] Upcoming trends like AI-driven synthetic biology, expanded exosome research funding, and biomarker-driven personalization will propel TEV adoption across oncology, neurology, and beyond.[1][4]
Its influence may evolve through platform licensing, novel therapeutics IND filings, and biomanufacturing scale-up, potentially disrupting delivery vectors and expanding into new modalities. This builds on its foundation as a precision medicine innovator harnessing nature's messengers for transformative impact.[2][4]
Mantra Bio has raised $34.0M in total across 2 funding rounds.
Mantra Bio's investors include 8VC, ARCH Venture Partners, Baidu Ventures, B Capital Group, Kiersten Stead, Matt Ocko, Mexican.vc, Tencent Holdings, Vickers Venture Partners, Farzad Nazem.
Mantra Bio has raised $34.0M across 2 funding rounds. Most recently, it raised $9.0M Series A in January 2023.
| Date | Round | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 1, 2023 | $9.0M Series A | 8VC, ARCH Venture Partners | |
| Jul 1, 2020 | $25.0M Series A | 8VC, ARCH Venture Partners, Baidu Ventures, B Capital Group, Kiersten Stead, Matt Ocko, Mexican.vc, Tencent Holdings, Vickers Venture Partners, Farzad Nazem |