# Ian Peikon

> Ian Peikon is the Seattle-based co-founder and co-CEO of Cajal Therapeutics and a venture partner at Lux Capital. Trained in engineering at Duke University and in research at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, he worked at Google X, helped found Kallyope and co-founded VNV Bio. His graduate work earned the 2015 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award and recognition on Forbes’ 2016 30 Under 30 science list.

- **Role:** Co-Founder & Co-CEO at Cajal Therapeutics
- **Organizations:** Cajal Therapeutics, Lux Capital, Kallyope, VNV Bio, Google X, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Duke University
- **Education:** BSE in Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, PhD, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Watson School of Biological Sciences
- **Known for:** 2015 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award recipient., Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science, 2016., Co-founder of Cajal, which announced a $96 million Series A in November 2022.

## Career timeline

- **2009** — Completed a BSE at Duke University and entered Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s doctoral program.
- **2014** — Submitted the thesis Encoding of neural circuit information into DNA, dated September 26, 2014.
- **2015** — Worked at Google X as a hardware engineer; graduated from the Watson School; received the Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award.
- **2015-2019** — Helped found Kallyope and led Platform Biology & Technology.
- **2016** — Named to Forbes’ 30 Under 30 science list.
- **2019** — Left Kallyope and joined Lux Capital as an entrepreneur-in-residence; subsequently listed as a venture partner.
- **2020** — Co-founded Cajal, initially known as Cajal Neuroscience.
- **2022** — Cajal launched publicly on November 29 with a $96 million Series A; Peikon was co-founder and chief scientific officer.
- **2024** — Announced as a speaker for the Future Neuro Founders Workshop.
- **2026** — Current Cajal team page identifies Peikon and Andrew Dervan as co-founders and co-chief executive officers.

## Achievements

- 2015 Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award recipient.
- Forbes 30 Under 30 in Science, 2016.
- Co-founder of Cajal, which announced a $96 million Series A in November 2022.
- Helped found Kallyope and co-founded VNV Bio.
- Co-author of peer-reviewed research on cellular barcoding and sequencing-based mapping; named inventor on US9752179B2.

## Latest updates

- **2024-10** — Named in the speaker lineup for a founders workshop scheduled for November 15 and 22, 2024.
- **2026-10** — Research check: Cajal’s current team page lists Peikon as co-founder and co-CEO, and Lux’s people page lists him as a venture partner. These are observation dates, not appointment dates.

## Links

- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ianpeikon/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ian-peikon
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-11