EVQLV

EVQLV (pronounced "evolve," with the letters representing a pattern of common amino acids found in most forms of life) applies artificial intelligence and computation to antibody discovery and engineering for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. Rather than selling software, the company uses its proprietary technology to generate antibody sequences and delivers those sequences to clients, who then produce and test the antibodies themselves. Management compares a sequence to a recipe: a party capable of making antibodies can manufacture from the sequence supplied.

The company positions its technology as a way to de-risk the path to regulatory approval by computationally assessing whether a candidate antibody will bind its target, how the body may react to it, whether it is safe, and whether it can be manufactured at scale. The stated rationale is that failures occur in silico, where they are faster, cheaper and more scalable, rather than in the laboratory, where they are costly, slow and risky. The company frames AI as a tool applied to the antibody discovery failure problem rather than as the product itself.

Founding story

Andrew Satz, a South Florida native who has worked in New York, Madrid and Washington, DC, and who had been launching businesses at the intersection of artificial intelligence and healthcare since 2017, founded EVQLV and serves as CEO. Brett Averso is co-founder and CTO.

Business model

EVQLV supplies AI-generated antibody sequences to biotech and pharmaceutical customers rather than licensing software. Customers pay upfront for the sequences, pay annual license fees while they produce and test the antibodies, and pay again to acquire rights to a sequence they select.

Revenue comes from upfront payments for generated antibody sequences, recurring annual license fees during customer testing, and additional payments when a customer acquires rights to a sequence; the company is paid more when a sequence works.

Traction

The company reported eight employees and had raised just under $3 million in pre-seed funding as of early 2023, when it began raising a seed round. A separate company profile lists it at the product-in-market stage with six employees.

Latest developments

EVQLV began raising a seed round in January 2023, targeting a close in May 2023, after winning a $150,000 investment prize at the Synapse Summit in February 2023.