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Pumpkinseed

Palo Alto, US · Founded 2021 · 18 employees on LinkedIn · 6 known investors

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Pumpkinseed builds a nanophotonic chip platform that reads proteins directly at single-molecule resolution using Raman spectroscopy, generating structured proteomic data. Its technology serves biopharma, biosecurity, and bio-AI applications, aiming to make the proteome readable for drug discovery, biomarker detection, and AI training datasets.

Founders & leadership

Pumpkinseed was founded in 2021 by Jen Dionne, Jack Hu, and Nhat Vu.

JDJen Dionne
Jen DionneCo-FounderJen Dionne is a materials science and radiology professor at Stanford who leads research in nanophotonic methods for characterizing chemical and biological systems at nanometer resolution, with applications to pathogen detection and drug susceptibility testing. She serves as Deputy Director of Q-Next, a DOE National Quantum Center, and holds a PhD in physics from Caltech.
JHJack Hu
Jack HuCo-Founder & CSO
NV
Nhat VuCo-Founder & CTOHe has technical expertise in machine learning, computer vision, image processing, and hardware prototyping.

Investors · 6

Also in the syndicate · 3

ADVenturesBase4Stanford

Funding

SEC filings, press & company announcements

$20M disclosed across 1 round · 2026

Source: company announcements and press reports — follow each round's link for the claim.

Related companies · 3

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In the news

Frequently asked questions

What does Pumpkinseed do?
Pumpkinseed builds a nanophotonic chip platform that reads proteins directly at single-molecule resolution using Raman spectroscopy, generating structured proteomic data. Its technology serves biopharma, biosecurity, and bio-AI applications, aiming to make the proteome readable for drug discovery, biomarker detection, and AI training datasets.
Who founded Pumpkinseed?
Pumpkinseed was founded by Jen Dionne, Jack Hu, Nhat Vu in 2021.
Who are Pumpkinseed's investors?
Pumpkinseed's investors include Future Ventures, NFX, Stanford University.
How much funding has Pumpkinseed raised?
Pumpkinseed has disclosed $20M raised across 1 round.
Where is Pumpkinseed headquartered?
Pumpkinseed is headquartered in Palo Alto, US.