# Abalone Bio

> Abalone Bio is an Emeryville-based preclinical biotech building target-activating antibodies for diseases other drugs can't reach. Its FAST platform pairs engineered yeast cells with AI/ML to screen ~100 million antibodies per experiment for functional activity, not just binding, with an initial focus on G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and metabolic disease.

- **Founded:** 2018
- **Headquarters:** Emeryville, California, United States
- **Founders:** Richard Yu (Co-Founder & CEO), Gustavo Pesce (Co-Founder)
- **Team size:** 23 (per provided data; YC profile lists 14)
- **Products:** FAST Platform, AI-Guided Antibody Design, GPCR Agonist Antibody Pipeline, Biotech Partnerships
- **Notable:** Y Combinator W20 batch company, Published peer-reviewed AI-based antibody discovery work on SARS-CoV-2 (bioRxiv / PMC), Discovered activator antibodies for two GPCRs

## Products & services

- **FAST Platform** — Functional Antibody Selection Technology - engineered yeast cells link cell survival to antibody activity, enabling ~100 million antibodies to be screened per experiment for functional effect rather than binding alone.
- **AI-Guided Antibody Design** — Machine learning and large language models trained on functional antibody datasets to predict and design active antibodies, including agonists for GPCRs.
- **GPCR Agonist Antibody Pipeline** — Preclinical drug discovery programs targeting G-protein coupled receptors, with initial focus on metabolic disease and obesity indications.
- **Biotech Partnerships** — Collaborative discovery programs with pharma and biotech partners using the FAST platform for target-specific antibody engineering.

## Achievements

- Y Combinator W20 batch company
- Published peer-reviewed AI-based antibody discovery work on SARS-CoV-2 (bioRxiv / PMC)
- Discovered activator antibodies for two GPCRs
- Secured $7M in non-dilutive grant funding
- Screens ~100 million antibodies per experiment, roughly 100x competing approaches

## Latest updates

- **2024-10** — Peer-reviewed publication on AI-based antibody discovery platform indexed via PMC.
- **2023-08** — Preprint on bioRxiv: AI-discovered therapeutic antibodies against multiple SARS-CoV-2 strains.
- **2022-01** — Closed $3M seed round led by Horizons Ventures with Valuence, Asymmetry, Gaingels, Gravity Fund.

## Links

- Website: https://abalonebio.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/abalone-bio-inc

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/abalone-bio
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-06-29