Hungarian-founded biotech startup Turbine raises €20M in series A round

The London-based company that develops a cell behavior simulation platform Turbine has raised €20 million in a series A funding to develop programs targeting DNA damage repair. The round was led by Mercia and MSD Global Health Innovation (GHI) Fund. 

• Founded in 2016 by Kristof Szalay, Ph.D., Daniel Veres, M.D., Ph.D., and Szabolcs Nagy Turbine develops an AI-based platform that simulates tumor cell behavior in patients to understand the complex mechanisms driving the disease. Simulations can reveal the right modality and combination approach to treat even the most resistant cancers. 
• The technology enables to select the right preclinical models, as well as the right patients to confirm the predicted mechanisms, targets, biomarkers, and combinations.
• Turbine is headquartered in London, with offices in Budapest, Hungary and Cambridge.

“The idea sprung from our frustration that conventional experiments frequently lead to expensive and time-consuming drug development failures. We’re poised to demonstrate that simulations not only reveal new ways of treating cancer, but increase the likelihood of success at every single step of the drug development process,”

Szabolcs Nagy, chief executive officer and co-founder of Turbine said.  

• The fresh round was led by the UK proactive venture capital investor Mercia that has a portfolio of over 400 startups from across all sectors, specializing in software, consumer and life science investments, biotechnology, digital healthcare, and medical devices. The second leading investor was a strategic investment fund MSD Global Health Innovation from pharma giant Merck & Co that evolves corporate healthcare venture capital by utilizing their healthcare ecosystem strategy.
• Day One Capital and some of Turbine’s existing investors, Accel, Delin Ventures, and XTX Ventures also joined the round.
• Turbine will use the investment to drive its next generation, potential first-in-class programs targeting DNA damage repair, and to transform key aspects of the oncology drug discovery and development process.