Convoke Secures $8.6 Million to Enhance AI Solutions for Biopharma Development

Convoke Secures $8.6 Million in Seed Funding

In a significant boost to biopharmaceutical innovation, Convoke, a cutting-edge AI-native operating system designed for the biopharma sector, has successfully raised $8.6 million in seed funding. This investment round was spearheaded by Kleiner Perkins and Dimension Capital, alongside participation from several other notable investors such as ACME, Comma Capital, Liquid2, Not Boring Capital, Audacious, Lux Capital, and angel investors like Qasar Younis and Erik Torenberg.

Convoke's mission is to transform the way biopharma companies manage data and make decisions, addressing the pressing need for efficiency in a competitive market. The biopharmaceutical industry currently faces immense pressure to shorten development cycles and improve operational efficiency. Traditionally, new drugs spend around 45% of their development period—often lasting five to six years—on planning and preparation, which is often referred to as 'white space'. The impact of delays is significant, with estimated losses of $500,000 each day due to time spent in waiting phases for critical medicines.

According to Alex Telford, CEO and co-founder of Convoke, a surprising portion of this time is consumed by repetitive manual tasks that could potentially be automated with modern AI solutions. He states, “Our goal with Convoke is to build software that applies recent advances in AI to unlock capacity and increase the 'clock speed' of biopharma organizations.”