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With Varda Space, leading Silicon Valley players make big bet on making drugs in space
With Varda Space, leading Silicon Valley players make big bet on making drugs in space

Yahoo

time10-07-2025

  • Business
  • Yahoo

With Varda Space, leading Silicon Valley players make big bet on making drugs in space

Pharmaceutical scientists come up against a hard limitations here on Earth: gravity. Varda Space wants to change that. The company has raised a massive new round to turn space into the 'ultimate high ground' for the production of critical pharmaceutical components that can be brought back to Earth and used to make finished drugs. The company's $187 million Series C funding round announced Thursday will be used to build out a new laboratory facility that could transform Varda's orbital manufacturing process into a lucrative intellectual property-generating machine. The 10,000-square-foot-lab space in El Segundo, California will enable Varda pharmaceutical scientists to determine which biologics, like proteins and antibodies, are the most promising candidates for space-based crystallization. They will essentially perform 'the upfront work' to determine which assets are good candidates for an orbital mission, and what conditions to put them through in space, Varda co-founder Delian Asparouhov explained in an interview with TechCrunch. 'The company can go and do process engineering to understand at what temperatures and what conditions do the biologics crystallize ahead of time, so that when we get up in orbit the bioreactor knows what to do,' Asparouhov said. Varda is in conversation with leading pharmaceutical manufacturers that are struggling with particular problems, like crystallizing a particular ingredient, or issues with drug purity or shelf-life stability. The company's aim is to use its lab and orbital spacecraft to solve those problems, and in the process generate IP that can be patented and licensed to drugmakers. The lab will provide opportunity for the company to generate intellectual property that could prove valuable further down in the drug production life-cycle. Asparouhov said he expects to see a much greater volume of Varda patents filed as the lab comes online. The new funding was led by firms Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, with additional contribution from Peter Thiel, Lux Capital, Khosla Ventures and Caffeinated Capital. Asparouhov is a partner at Founders Fund, the firm Thiel co-founded twenty years ago, and he as previously a principal at Khosla. Varda has launched and returned three successful missions so far since 2023; the company anticipates completing four missions this year alone. For its first three missions, Varda housed its in-space manufacturing module inside a Rocket Lab-made spacecraft. The company has since taken all of the spacecraft manufacturing in-house. Varda built two spacecraft this year and aims to double that manufacturing cadence to four next year. The company also generates revenue by turning its spacecraft into a hypersonic flight testbed for the U.S. Department of Defense. Historically, hypersonic flight testing had a long lead time and sky-high prices, but Varda is proposing a launch-and-return cadence and the novel opportunity to recover tested material. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data

With Varda Space, leading Silicon Valley players make big bet on making drugs in space
With Varda Space, leading Silicon Valley players make big bet on making drugs in space

TechCrunch

time10-07-2025

  • Business
  • TechCrunch

With Varda Space, leading Silicon Valley players make big bet on making drugs in space

Pharmaceutical scientists come up against a hard limitations here on Earth: gravity. Varda Space wants to change that. The company has raised a massive new round to turn space into the 'ultimate high ground' for the production of critical pharmaceutical components that can be brought back to Earth and used to make finished drugs. The company's $187 million Series C funding round announced Thursday will be used to build out a new laboratory facility that could transform Varda's orbital manufacturing process into a lucrative intellectual property-generating machine. The 10,000-square-foot-lab space in El Segundo, California will enable Varda pharmaceutical scientists to determine which biologics, like proteins and antibodies, are the most promising candidates for space-based crystallization. They will essentially perform 'the upfront work' to determine which assets are good candidates for an orbital mission, and what conditions to put them through in space, Varda co-founder Delian Asparouhov explained in an interview with TechCrunch. 'The company can go and do process engineering to understand at what temperatures and what conditions do the biologics crystallize ahead of time, so that when we get up in orbit the bioreactor knows what to do,' Asparouhov said. Varda is in conversation with leading pharmaceutical manufacturers that are struggling with particular problems, like crystallizing a particular ingredient, or issues with drug purity or shelf-life stability. The company's aim is to use its lab and orbital spacecraft to solve those problems, and in the process generate IP that can be patented and licensed to drugmakers. The lab will provide opportunity for the company to generate intellectual property that could prove valuable further down in the drug production life-cycle. Asparouhov said he expects to see a much greater volume of Varda patents filed as the lab comes online. Techcrunch event Save up to $475 on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $450 on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW The new funding was led by firms Natural Capital and Shrug Capital, with additional contribution from Peter Thiel, Lux Capital, Khosla Ventures and Caffeinated Capital. Asparouhov is a partner at Founders Fund, the firm Thiel co-founded twenty years ago, and he as previously a principal at Khosla. Varda has launched and returned three successful missions so far since 2023; the company anticipates completing four missions this year alone. For its first three missions, Varda housed its in-space manufacturing module inside a Rocket Lab-made spacecraft. The company has since taken all of the spacecraft manufacturing in-house. Varda built two spacecraft this year and aims to double that manufacturing cadence to four next year. The company also generates revenue by turning its spacecraft into a hypersonic flight testbed for the U.S. Department of Defense. Historically, hypersonic flight testing had a long lead time and sky-high prices, but Varda is proposing a launch-and-return cadence and the novel opportunity to recover tested material.

Chinese AI startup Manus accelerates move to Singapore amid intensifying AI race
Chinese AI startup Manus accelerates move to Singapore amid intensifying AI race

Business Times

time09-07-2025

  • Business
  • Business Times

Chinese AI startup Manus accelerates move to Singapore amid intensifying AI race

[SINGAPORE] Manus is hiring more than 20 people for Singapore while shrinking its operations in Beijing and Wuhan, months after the Chinese-founded AI pioneer secured the backing of a prominent Silicon Valley investor. The startup has laid off dozens of China-based staff and is preparing to shift many of those roles to Singapore, according to a person familiar with the situation, asking to remain anonymous detailing a private matter. This week, it posted ads for more than a score of engineers, product and data specialists for Singapore and elsewhere, signalling its global ambitions. It is also hiring in San Mateo, California and Tokyo. Manus is embarking on a hiring spree just months after its global launch heightened US fears about China's technological capabilities. News that Benchmark Capital led a funding round valuing the firm at close to US$500 million drew criticism from industry figures including Founders Fund partner Delian Asparouhov. Manus did not respond to an email seeking comment. Manus – whose product is not available in China – captured the attention of investors with autonomous AI agents that help execute tasks for users. In recent weeks, the company – whose agent also analyses company finances and social media engagement – has beefed up its offerings to include task scheduling and automated slide deck creations. Manus in March previewed what it called a general AI agent capable of screening resumes, creating trip itineraries and analysing stocks in response to basic instructions. Its service performed better on some fronts than OpenAI's Deep Research, the company claimed at the time. Since then, companies from ByteDance to Baidu have followed suit with their own competing agentic AI platforms. Like DeepSeek, Manus sparked questions about the US lead on artificial intelligence – this time in a product category that American tech companies see as a key investment area. With tensions ratcheting up, the startup recently set up its global headquarters in Singapore, mimicking moves by other Chinese tech firms including ByteDance and Genshin Impact studio Mihoyo. Its founders and executives are currently on a worldwide tour to engage with developers. Their scheduled stops have so far included San Francisco and Paris, as well as Nepal, Morocco and Slovakia. BLOOMBERG

Manus quickens shift from China to Singapore as AI race heats up
Manus quickens shift from China to Singapore as AI race heats up

Business Times

time09-07-2025

  • Business
  • Business Times

Manus quickens shift from China to Singapore as AI race heats up

[SINGAPORE] Manus is hiring more than 20 people for Singapore while shrinking its operations in Beijing and Wuhan, months after the Chinese-founded AI pioneer secured the backing of a prominent Silicon Valley investor. The startup has laid off dozens of China-based staff and is preparing to shift many of those roles to Singapore, according to a person familiar with the situation, asking to remain anonymous detailing a private matter. This week, it posted ads for more than a score of engineers, product and data specialists for Singapore and elsewhere, signalling its global ambitions. It is also hiring in San Mateo, California and Tokyo. Manus is embarking on a hiring spree just months after its global launch heightened US fears about China's technological capabilities. News that Benchmark Capital led a funding round valuing the firm at close to US$500 million drew criticism from industry figures including Founders Fund partner Delian Asparouhov. Manus did not respond to an email seeking comment. Manus – whose product is not available in China – captured the attention of investors with autonomous AI agents that help execute tasks for users. In recent weeks, the company – whose agent also analyses company finances and social media engagement – has beefed up its offerings to include task scheduling and automated slide deck creations. Manus in March previewed what it called a general AI agent capable of screening resumes, creating trip itineraries and analysing stocks in response to basic instructions. Its service performed better on some fronts than OpenAI's Deep Research, the company claimed at the time. Since then, companies from ByteDance to Baidu have followed suit with their own competing agentic AI platforms. Like DeepSeek, Manus sparked questions about the US lead on artificial intelligence – this time in a product category that American tech companies see as a key investment area. With tensions ratcheting up, the startup recently set up its global headquarters in Singapore, mimicking moves by other Chinese tech firms including ByteDance and Genshin Impact studio Mihoyo. Its founders and executives are currently on a worldwide tour to engage with developers. Their scheduled stops have so far included San Francisco and Paris, as well as Nepal, Morocco and Slovakia. BLOOMBERG

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