Tiny Michigan Biotech startup Circnova has collected $3.3 million seed rounds for technology that uses AI to target “Circular RNA.” This development is promising as a new method for rapidly developing treatments for conditions that currently lack drug therapy.
The new funding was also a victory lap for co-founder and CEO Crystal Brown, taking an unconventional path to becoming the founder of biotechnology.
RNA, or ribonucleic acid, is an important molecule that helps convert genetic information into proteins. Round RNA is a relatively new class of such structures that form circles rather than strands. We hope that these molecule-based therapies can regulate important biological processes and target complex health issues.
“We have developed our own AI engine, which allows us to identify, design and generate novel, non-coding Circular RNAs,” Brown told TechCrunch.
This is an AI engine similar to Google's Deepmind Alphafold, which uses deep learning AI (rather than some kind of large-scale language model) to generate and analyze new circular RNAs for treatment.
Circnova is said to be the first in the world to be able to predict Circular RNA structures, as well as Novaengine, but also has a wet lab. That means that the AI engine can generate the actual physical molecules themselves and work with the University of Michigan to verify and research them, Brown said.
“You can reverse engineer it. You can move from sequence to structure. You can move from structure to sequence when you develop a molecule,” she says.
The goal is to “treat previously untreated diseases, ovarian cancer, triple-negative breast cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, rare genetic diseases, and more.”
The technology is based on the work of Joe Deangelo, co-founder of Circnova, the startup's chief science officer and former CEO of Biotech Neochromosome, and the work of former CSO at Apex Bioscience. Investor William Grenawitzke is Chief Business Officer and third co-founder of the startup.
Lessons from failed startups
Brown seems like a unlikely founder of such a company, as her career was in the automotive manufacturing industry until about seven years ago.
When her friend introduced her to the CEO who runs a life sciences startup, she thought she was climbing the ladder to become a “C-Suite Automotive Executive.” The startup CEO was looking for a business manager.
Curious, Brown offered to keep his book part-time. It brought business tactics from the automotive factory to help startups, including overhauling business contracts.
She pasted questions about science on her team, until some of her friends told her they should quit their car and work full-time in biotechnology.
“I was like no one took me seriously. I've never studied biology. I've learned policy and women's research,” she recalls.
But she took the leap anyway, cutting off her massive salary from six-figure jobs to what was equivalent to an intern-level salary. She learned about startups, raised money and worked towards the operations director. The company was publicly available and gave her a healthier payment to buy a house, she said.
Successfully washed away, she launched her own biotech startup, a contract lab.
She raised money and then made all the classic First Found mistakes. “I hired people too early. I opened my lab,” she said.
Two years later, her startup burned its funds and she knew she had to shut it down. It broke her heart and her bank account. She even lost her home, she recalled.
However, she has gained a great reputation in Michigan's close startup community, and Brown recalls that VCS told her. Several people said they were open to funding her next idea.
Knowing that she would soon be available for new ventures, Deangelo began sending scientific material to circular RNA. He had an idea about how to use it in AI Drug Discovery.
“He literally started sending me out at 5:30 every morning… 5-10 articles,” she recalls. “I hadn't shut down any other companies all the time.”
But she studied and was convinced that this idea would work. They founded Circnova in May 2023.
“I went in very carefully and threw a little on the wall. What can I do with a $15,000 grant to start it?”
That initial spending developed the startup's initial process, resulting in an additional $25,000 from the National Science Foundation grant.
She began to divide time between Michigan and Boston. Near customers, wish list customers like Moderna and Pfizer.
When it comes to betting on Brown again, VCs like Near Butts, the general partner of Union Heritage Venture, were fine.
“We're not used to the resilience needed when engaging in our entrepreneurial journey,” Butts said, adding that she knew she wanted to back up this new venture.
The $3.3 million seed round is led by VC South Loop Ventures, focusing on diversity, and includes investments from Dug Song, Union Heritage, Michigan Rise, Invest Detroit, Kalamazoo Forward Ventures and Spark Capital .