# Insamo

> Insamo is a Berkeley-based biotechnology company spun out of UC Berkeley that is building membrane-permeable, orally available macrocyclic peptides with antibody-like binding affinity. By pairing machine-learning-driven molecular design with ultra-high-throughput molecular biology and parallel synthetic chemistry, Insamo runs automated design-synthesize-test cycles that generate trillions of proprietary data points - aiming to turn today's injected biologics into pills and to hit drug targets long considered undruggable. The company launched publicly in February 2024 with a $12M seed round led by Playground Global, venBio, and Merck's MRL Ventures Fund.

- **Founded:** 2022
- **Headquarters:** Berkeley, California, United States
- **Founders:** Timothy Craven (Co-Founder & CEO (Ph.D., MBA)), Toby Passioura (Co-Founder & Chief Scientific Officer (Ph.D.)), Glen McIntyre (Co-Founder & Chief Operating Officer (Ph.D.))
- **Team size:** 14 (reported range 11-50)
- **Products:** Cyclic-Peptide Discovery Platform, Membrane-Permeable Macrocyclic Peptides, De Novo Candidate Generation
- **Notable:** Launched publicly in February 2024 with $12M in seed funding., Assembled a founding team trained in the David Baker and Hiroaki Suga labs., Secured backing from Merck's corporate venture arm (MRL Ventures Fund) alongside Playground Global and venBio.

## Products & services

- **Cyclic-Peptide Discovery Platform** — An integrated platform combining ML-driven molecular design, ultra high-throughput molecular biology, and parallel synthetic chemistry to run automated design-synthesize-test cycles that generate trillions of proprietary experimental data points.
- **Membrane-Permeable Macrocyclic Peptides** — Orally available cyclic peptides engineered to cross cell membranes while retaining antibody-like binding affinity to their targets - designed as alternatives to injected biologics.
- **De Novo Candidate Generation** — The platform can consistently generate treatment candidates from scratch using only a small sample of target material, aimed at targets historically considered undruggable.

## Achievements

- Launched publicly in February 2024 with $12M in seed funding.
- Assembled a founding team trained in the David Baker and Hiroaki Suga labs.
- Secured backing from Merck's corporate venture arm (MRL Ventures Fund) alongside Playground Global and venBio.
- Spun out of UC Berkeley and based at Bakar Labs, with an international research footprint in Sydney, Australia.
- Built a platform capable of generating candidates from scratch using only a small sample of target material.

## Latest updates

- **2024-02** — Insamo emerged from stealth and announced a $12M seed round led by Playground Global, venBio, and MRL Ventures Fund to develop membrane-permeable macrocyclic peptides.
- **2024-02** — Matt Hershenson (Playground Global) and Corey Goodman, Ph.D. (venBio) joined Insamo's board of directors.

## Links

- Website: https://insamo.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/insamo

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/insamo
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-08-04