Dillan DiNardo

Dillan DiNardo is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Mindstate Design Labs, a biotechnology company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. He guided the mental health therapeutics startup through the Y Combinator Winter 2022 batch before securing an $11.5 million seed round led by Initialized Capital. Under his leadership, the firm subsequently raised a $10 million Series A extension in early 2026 to advance its lead psychoactive drug candidate, MSD-001, into preclinical trials. Prior to transitioning into an operational founder role, DiNardo worked as a biotechnology venture capitalist at Fifty Years VC, specializing in early-stage neuroscience investments. He holds a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. His current focus centers on mapping the biological basis of the psychedelic experience to design novel treatments for complex psychiatric disorders.