# Tero-Pekka Alastalo

> Tero-Pekka Alastalo is a Finnish-born physician-scientist turned serial entrepreneur who trained as a pediatric cardiologist, completed his postdoctoral work at Stanford University School of Medicine, and has spent the last 15 years building life science companies in Silicon Valley. He co-founded Blueprint Genetics in 2012 - a clinical genetic testing company later acquired by Quest Diagnostics in 2020 - before launching Avenue Biosciences in 2023, a transatlantic AI-powered protein engineering company that uses signal peptide libraries and machine learning to unlock the secretory pathway and dramatically boost therapeutic protein yields. Based in Menlo Park, California, Alastalo is turning a fundamental cellular mechanism overlooked by the industry into a platform that could accelerate every class of next-generation biologic.

- **Role:** CEO & Co-Founder at Avenue Biosciences
- **Organizations:** Avenue Biosciences, Blueprint Genetics, University of Helsinki
- **From:** Finland
- **Nationality:** Finnish
- **Education:** MD, PhD (Pediatrics / Pediatric Cardiology), University of Turku, Postdoctoral Fellow (Cardiovascular Molecular Genetics), Stanford University School of Medicine, Adjunct Professor of Pediatrics, University of Helsinki
- **Known for:** Co-founded Blueprint Genetics (2012), which was acquired by Quest Diagnostics in 2020 - a successful exit after building one of Europe's leading clinical genetic testing companies, Raised $8.2M+ in total funding for Avenue Biosciences across seed and seed extension rounds, Led Avenue Biosciences to generate revenue in its first year of commercial operations

## Career timeline

- **~2008-2011** — Postdoctoral training at Stanford University School of Medicine and UCSF, focusing on molecular genetic mechanisms of cardiovascular disease
- **2012** — Co-founded Blueprint Genetics with Samuel Myllykangas and Juha Koskenvuo - a clinical genetic testing company for inherited rare diseases
- **2020** — Blueprint Genetics acquired by Quest Diagnostics
- **2023** — Co-founded Avenue Biosciences with Ville Paavilainen, Katja Rosti, and Juho Kellosalo, emerging from University of Helsinki research
- **2024** — Avenue Biosciences emerged from stealth; raised $2.5M seed round led by Voima Ventures with Inventure and US angel investors
- **2025** — Selected for 2025 BioTools Innovator Accelerator Program; spoke at BIO International Convention 2025
- **2026** — Avenue Biosciences raised $5.7M seed extension co-led by Balnord and Tesi, bringing total funding to $8.2M+

## Achievements

- Co-founded Blueprint Genetics (2012), which was acquired by Quest Diagnostics in 2020 - a successful exit after building one of Europe's leading clinical genetic testing companies
- Raised $8.2M+ in total funding for Avenue Biosciences across seed and seed extension rounds
- Led Avenue Biosciences to generate revenue in its first year of commercial operations
- Achieved up to 500% protein yield improvements in external validations using Avenue's signal peptide platform
- Selected as speaker at BIO International Convention 2025 and 2026
- Selected for the 2025 BioTools Innovator Accelerator Program
- Avenue Biosciences joined StartX, the largest community of Stanford founders
- Built a transatlantic biotech operating across Silicon Valley and Helsinki with 21 employees

## Latest updates

- **2026-01** — Avenue Biosciences raised $5.7M seed extension co-led by Balnord and Tesi, with support from Voima Ventures, Inventure, University of Helsinki, and Dimerent
- **2025-06** — Avenue Biosciences selected for the 2025 BioTools Innovator Accelerator Program
- **2025-05** — Veli-Pekka Jaakola joined Avenue Biosciences as Chief Technology Officer
- **2024-10** — Avenue Biosciences raised $2.5M seed round led by Voima Ventures and emerged from stealth

## Links

- Website: https://avenuebiosciences.com
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tero-pekka-alastalo-9302bb56
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/talastal
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/teropekka/

---

Profile page: https://yespress.io/tero-pekka-alastalo
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-05-06