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.

Pumpkinseed

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

Find your way into Pumpkinseed

1,950 people in our graph share verified history with the Pumpkinseed team — schools, employers, funds. One of them is your warm intro.

Deep Nisharunlockedknows Jen Dionne · together at Stanford University (overlapped)

×9knows the team · via Stanford University

knows the team · via FICO

knows the team · via Caltech

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.

AI & Machine Learning Biotech Deep Tech

Founders & leadership

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

Jen Dionne inCo-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.

Jack HuinCo-Founder & CSO

Nhat Vu inCo-Founder & CTOHe has technical expertise in machine learning, computer vision, image processing, and hardware prototyping.

Investors · 6

Future VenturesLos Altos · $1M – $10M

NFXSan Francisco · $250K – $5M

Stanford UniversityreportedStanford

Also in the syndicate · 3

ADVenturesBase4Stanford

Funding

SEC filings, press & company announcements

$20M disclosed across 1 round · 2026

$20MSeries AMay 2026 · 2 sources
Future Ventures (lead), NfX (lead), ADVentures, Base4, Stanford, Stanford University
Source ↗

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

Founder mafia

2 people who came through Pumpkinseed went on to found or lead other companies.

Omri Amirav DroryBoard MemberFounded Renewal Bio Omri Amirav-DroryBoard MemberFounded Renewal Bio

Competitors · 3

by search overlap

Seed Tx5 shared keywordsSEED Therapeutics develops de novo molecular glue degraders for targeted protein degradation, using its RITE3 platform to match E3 ligases with disease-causing target proteins. Its lead RBM39 degrader (ST-01156) is in Phase 1 trials for Ewing sarcoma, hepatocellular carcinoma and related tumors, alongside additional oncology programs.

Seed Health4 shared keywordsSeed develops clinically studied probiotic and prebiotic formulations designed to support digestive health and overall wellness through proprietary delivery technology that protects beneficial bacteria through the digestive tract.

Keychain CPG manufacturing platform3 shared keywordsKeychain operates an AI-powered platform connecting CPG brands and retailers with contract manufacturers.

Companies competing with Pumpkinseed for the same Google search keywords, organic and paid, via search-intersection analysis.

In the news

Pumpkinseed is Unlocking Biology’s Most Valuable Hidden Data Layermenlotimes.com · May 2026

Stanford University Spinout Pumpkinseed Raises $20M to Advance Protein Sequencing Tech | GenomeWebgenomeweb.com · May 2026

Pumpkinseed Raises $20 Million Series A to Unlock Biology's Most Valuable Hidden Data Layer — Pumpkinseed Biopumpkinseed.bio · May 2026

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.