Lab to Startup

Biotech's New Rules: Tight Capital, Hard Science, AI, and Survival in 2026

Doug Crawford, Ph.D., is the founder of MBC BioLabs and also a Managing General Partner of Mission BioCapital. Doug's goal is to help entrepreneurial scientists create successful startups. His dream is that every entrepreneurial scientist with a dream be given a chance. Since its founding, this program has helped launch 500 companies and helped raise over $20 billion in capital. Robert Blazej, Ph.D., is a Partner at Mission BioCapital and Director at MBC BioLabs. He is a passionate biotechnologist with a diverse skillset spanning business, life science, engineering and intellectual property. Robert Blazej brings 10 years of operational experience both as a successful entrepreneur and as a leader within an international corporation. Previously, Robert was CEO of Allopartis Biotechnologies, a company he co-founded with the vision that microdroplets would transform the scale and pace of life science research. Allopartis was acquired by Novozymes in 2013. This conversation can be considered as the 2026 State of the Union for early-stage biotech. The biotech landscape has shifted drastically- we moved from the grow-at-all-costs zero-interest-rate era to a world of tight capital and high discipline. The undisputed capital of biotech in Boston is facing unprecedented lab vacancies. AI is dominating every pitch deck. And China has rapidly evolved from a manufacturing hub into a multi-billion-dollar discovery engine. Shownotes * https://mbcbiolabs.com/ [https://mbcbiolabs.com/]; https://www.missionbaycapital.com [https://www.missionbaycapital.com/home2]/ * How did Doug and Robert meet? * Progress Mission Biolabs made in the past 4 years * God's eye view of the biotech startup world- What is being built? * DNA of the founders: repeat founders on the rise * Capital restraints and advances in science made the current period the best time to launch biotech startups. * With the advent of AI, we should not be making knowable mistakes * Companies are using AI to jumpstart what they are going to work on * Discovery costs are the overall cost of drug discovery- So, don't get too excited! * How to address reduction in NIH non-dilutive funding * ⅓ of startups in incubators are serial entrepreneurs; ⅓ are mid-career scientists from established companies * Comparing Boston and the Bay area biotech ecosystems * 73% of pharma's revenues are from discoveries sourced externally * Alternate models: Arena bioworks, Arc Institute, Chan Zuckerberg institute * Book recommendation - Thinking in Bets [https://www.annieduke.com/thinking-in-bets/] * Actual impact of AI at Mission Biolabs * Where Ai might have the most impact- healthcare delivery? * China affairs: Regulatory changes, investments, return of talent * European biotech affairs

Cold Plasma Meets Machine Learning: The SirenOpt Story of Solving Manufacturing's Nanoscale Blind Spot

Jared O'Leary, Ph.D., is the co-founder and CEO of SirenOpt, and Ali Mesbah, Ph.D. is his cofounder and also his former PhD advisor. Ali is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at UC Berkeley. SirenOpt is a Berkeley spin-out that is solving one of manufacturing's biggest blind spots. Their PlasmaSens platform uses cold atmospheric plasma and AI to non-destructively inspect thin films and nanomaterials in real-time—catching defects and inconsistencies that traditional methods miss entirely. They're helping manufacturers of batteries, semiconductors, and aerospace components accelerate R&D, optimize production, and dramatically improve quality control. In this episode of Lab to startup, we talk about how the industry currently solves the problems, and how SirenOpt is improving them; Then we deep dive into their technology; the origins of the startup from research at UC Berkeley; customer discovery, especially importance of relationship building and how it is different from just interviewing potential customers; lessons from working with industry; their fundraising journey and many other topics including Jared's experience working at Theranos. Shownotes: * https://www.sirenopt.com/ [https://www.sirenopt.com/] * Advance coatings, thin films and micro/nano scale materials are critical in several industries. But manufacturing these components are inherently probabilistic * SirenOpt providing hardware and software solutions for real time tracking * Overview of current solutions * SirenOpt technology overview * Initial medical applications * Challenges with cold atmospheric pressure plasma * Transition from an academic project to startup journey * Feedback from industry * Lessons from Jared working at Theranos * Importance of transparency and building trust while working with customers * Importance of academic thinking while building deeptech startups * Market exploration: Foray into battery industry * Customer discovery vs relationship building * Support from Ali: from an academia-industry relationship point of view * Venture scalability: Demonstrating the size of the market * Working with semiconductor industry * Lessons from working with academic PI as your cofounder * Fundraising journey * Role played by accelerators and incubators: Berkeley Skydeck [https://skydeck.berkeley.edu/] & Activate [https://activate.org/] * Lessons from hiring * Long term vision & lessons transitioning from academic scientist to a startup CEO

Designing the Future of Drug Delivery: How AI is Solving RNA's Biggest Challenge

Yogev Debbi and Prof Avi Schroeder (Technion Israel Institute of Technology), co-founded Mana bio along with Dr. Kira Radinsky [https://www.mana.bio/team/dr.-kira-radinsky] and Roy Nevo. They are leveraging data, machine learning and high throughput screening to design novel Lipid NanoParticles for targeted extrahepatic delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics and vaccines. Lipid nanoparticles are microscopic fatty bubbles that deliver genetic medicines into your cells—think of them as the FedEx trucks of molecular biology. Remember the mRNA vaccines that saved millions during COVID? They used lipid nano particles as the delivery vehicle.. The little secret behind those vaccines is that we got lucky. Those lipid nanoparticles worked beautifully for the liver and immune system. But if you try to deliver RNA to your brain, your lungs, or a tumor, those would be a massive failure! Scientists are still running thousands of experiments hoping to stumble onto the right formulation. This actually was my postdoc work as well, which makes this episode very special. I always wished there was a better way to design these delivery vehicles—and that's exactly what today's guests have built with AI." We talk about how they founded and currently building Mana Bio- a big part around how biologists and chemists can interact with technologists, especially data and AI geeks to build something important. Their story provides a great framework for scientists and tech folks to work together. Shownotes: * https://www.mana.bio/ [https://www.mana.bio/] * How Avi got started using data/AI to design LNPs * Optimizing LNP formulations targeting different organs * Working with Bob Langer and Dan Anderson @MIT * Yogev transitioning to gene editing * Defining the problem & cross disciplinary conversations and projects * Language that helps interactions between scientists and software/AI folks * Deepdive into the platform- building data sets * Data scraping, validation, improvisation, new data generation (both positive and negative data) * Cleaning data and normalization * Work in the wet lab: 'I trust my colleagues and believe data can be replicated" * Data moats: Proprietary data vs public data * Daily routine in the lab and interactions with the data/AI team * Cross Functional dynamics * Scientists trying to save money vs optimizing for more valuable time * Lab hypothesis predictions vs AI predictions: competitive spirit * Factoring in errors by the machines and humans * Business model: Building customized solutions for drug delivery * Potentially becoming a pharma company * Regulatory affairs * Fears that keep them up * Dynamics of a diverse founding team: Roy Nevo and Dr. Kira Radinsky (the other two co founders) * Message to academia: "Publish more data- including failures. This will accelerate science" * Omri Drory [https://www.nfx.com/team/omri-amirav-drory], Kira Radinsky [https://www.mana.bio/team/dr.-kira-radinsky] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5hX3vq3iNk [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5hX3vq3iNk]

Solving the CRISPR delivery problem using a proprietary peptide-based platform

Dana Foss and Ross Wilson are the cofounders of Editpep, a biotech startup focused on developing CRISPR-based therapeutics. They are using a proprietary peptide-based delivery platform that enables targeted delivery to specific cell types, particularly for hard-to-reach areas like the brain. While Dana Foss is the CEO, Ross Wilson is also an Assistant Adjunct Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology and also the Director of Therapeutic Delivery at the Innovative Genomics Institute at the University of California, Berkeley. He is one of those very few academics that co-founded a startup and is very active in building Editpep. Ross explains how he does it all so well! Dana was previously a postdoc in Ross Wilson's lab, where she developed the technology. Ross was a postdoc in Nobel Laureate Jennifer Doudna's lab. Now he has his own lab and collaborates with Jennifer Doudna at the Innovative Genomics Institute. In this episode of lab to startup, we will explore their initial decisions that lead to launching the startup; existing CRISPR delivery technologies, their challenges, and then do a deep dive into their delivery technology. opportunities,; fundraising efforts, and their future goals. Shownotes * https://www.editpep.bio/ [https://www.editpep.bio/] * CRISPR Delivery problem and current solutions * Existing solutions like AV, LNPs are mostly limited to mice * Ribonucleoprotein, a complex of RNA and protein (RNP): Technology deep dive * Outsiders bringing in fresh perspective * Dana transitioning out of academia: working on a shared goal * Hard to shepard the technology towards the patient by depending on a third party * Self motivation and gumption: Ways to move technologies out of the lab * Early stage co-founder chemistry * Ross's innovative role being an academic and entrepreneur * Fundraising journey * Open mindedness to non-traditional investors * Investors: Berkeley Skydeck [https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&rls=en&q=berkely+skydeck&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8], Lindonlight Collective [https://lindonlight.com] * Filters for selecting investors * Getting to market: Parallels from other delivery companies like Alnylam * Counterintuitive decisions * Future goals * Connecting the dots

Altitude Lab Fund- Supporting healthcare founders in challenging times

Chandana Haque is the Executive Director of Altitude Lab, a healthcare startup accelerator building a community of diverse entrepreneurs in Utah. Altitude Lab was cofounded in 2020 by Chandana and Chris Gibson, the co-founder & CEO of Recursion in Salt Lake City. They recently announced the launch of a pre-seed venture fund aimed at supporting early-stage biotech startups impacted by recent federal funding policy shifts. This pre-seed venture fund is dedicated to funding the highest impact ideas transitioning from basic research to industry. In partnership with Altitude Lab, they provide capital, lab space, and mentorship to high-potential SBIR reviewed companies, offering continuity for startups affected by recent funding policy changes while strengthening Salt Lake City's position as a national biotech hub. We talk about the Altitude fund, Altitude lab, lessons learned from other ecosystems; support from Recursion, better ways to support healthcare founders and many other topics. Shownotes * Altitude lab fund [https://www.altitudelab.org/altitude-lab-fund]: a pre-seed venture fund dedicated to funding the highest impact ideas transitioning from basic research to industry. * Fund announcement: https://ir.recursion.com/news-releases/news-release-details/altitude-lab-launches-pre-seed-venture-fund-anchored-recursion [https://ir.recursion.com/news-releases/news-release-details/altitude-lab-launches-pre-seed-venture-fund-anchored-recursion] * Altitude labs [https://www.altitudelab.org/]: a health care accelerator building a community of diverse entrepreneurs in Utah * Lessons learned (and unlearned) from Boston and Bay Area startup ecosystems * Criteria for selection: Technology vs market readiness * Founder fit, connecting founders to the right resources * Turning a scrappy startup to a fundable one * Overhyped areas in biotech * Finding winners and lost opportunities * Support from Recursion Pharma [https://www.recursion.com/] * Supporting diversity: Anecdotes of diverse founders * Support from the University of Utah