CellChorus raises funding from Y Combinator

PRESS RELEASE

HOUSTON, Texas — August 31, 2021 — CellChorus Inc., the leader in applying artificial intelligence to visually evaluate how thousands of individual cells perform over time, announced that Y Combinator has invested $125,000 and accepted CellChorus into its Summer 2021 batch. Y Combinator, which is based in Silicon Valley, has backed thousands of companies including Airbnb, DoorDash, Ginkgo Bioworks, Instacart and Stripe. The Y Combinator accelerator now funds more seed stage biotech companies than any other investor.

“As the leader in performing dynamic single-cell analysis, CellChorus merges advanced immunology, microscopy and artificial intelligence,” said Daniel Meyer, CEO of CellChorus. “We are excited to have access to the resources, mentorship and entrepreneur network associated with Y Combinator. Being a Y Combinator-backed company will allow us to apply best practices from across a variety of industries as we grow CellChorus.”

CellChorus “watches” thousands of videos of individual cell-cell interactions so scientists can develop and deliver better cell therapies, antibody therapeutics and vaccines. The company’s customers include top-25 biopharmaceutical companies and leading developers of novel cell therapies. CellChorus's approach is important for two reasons. First, cells must move and interact to fight disease — so we need to evaluate cell movement over time. Second, cells are diverse — so we need to evaluate thousands of cells individually, not in bulk.

Before CellChorus, standard live cell imaging techniques used in the discovery, development and delivery of new therapies only evaluated large numbers of cells in bulk, and therefore only delivered average results. CellChorus merges advanced immunology, microscopy and AI by placing cells in thousands of nanowells and making videos of how each cell performs. The company’s algorithms provide data on individual cell performance across a wider range of metrics that can be linked to other single cell technologies like single-cell sequencing. Their platform helps scientists determine which therapies to move forward with in clinical trials, understand patient response, and maintain manufacturing consistency.

About CellChorus

CellChorus is the leader in applying artificial intelligence to visually evaluate how thousands of individual cells, such as T cells and NK cells, perform over time. The company applies Time lapse Imaging Microscopy in Nanowell Grids (TIMING™) with neural network-based detection to identify cells and evaluate their activity, including how they move, activate, kill and survive. The patent-protected CellChorus platform links TIMING data and insight with information from other analysis modalities such as single cell RNA sequencing and flow cytometry to provide a comprehensive understanding of cellular function, state and phenotype for the life sciences industry. Please visit www.cellchorus.com for more information.

Company Contact:
Daniel Meyer
Chief Executive Officer
CellChorus Inc.
TIMING@cellchorus.com

SOURCE CellChorus Inc.