Drug discovery startup Peptris raises Rs 70 crore from IAN Alpha Fund and Speciale Invest

Bengaluru-based drug discovery startup Peptris has raised Rs 70 crore, about $7.7 million, in a Series A funding round co-led by IAN Alpha Fund and Speciale Invest. The round also saw participation from Tenacity Ventures, BYT Ventures and other investors.

The startup said the fresh capital will be deployed over the next 24 months to advance its lead programmes toward clinical readiness, expand its discovery pipeline and strengthen teams across biology, chemistry, data science and artificial intelligence.

Founded in 2019 by Narayanan Venkatasubramanian, Shridhar Narayanan, Anand Budni and Amit Mahajan, Peptris has developed AI models designed to generate novel molecules and predict key parameters critical to drug development. The platform aims to reduce failure risks in early-stage research by enabling faster and more informed decision-making.

Despite advances in science, drug discovery remains slow, capital-intensive and prone to failure. The challenge is particularly acute in the pre-clinical stage, where time constraints, funding pressures and scientific uncertainty often derail promising programmes before they reach human trials. Peptris said its platform targets this structural bottleneck by improving candidate selection and optimisation early in the process.

According to the company, its approach has already led to the discovery of Novel Chemical Entities, or NCEs, along with drug repurposing and rescue opportunities. Several programmes are now progressing toward clinical development.

Going forward, Peptris plans to initiate multiple new NCE programmes in addition to drug repurposing and rescue initiatives involving shelved clinical-stage assets from other pharmaceutical companies.