AI-Accelerated Discovery of Consumer Health Ingredients: MetaNovas Completes Series A Funding Round

Text | Wang Fangyu

Editor | Su Jianxun

36Kr learned that recently, Metanovas Biotech has completed its Series A financing. This round of financing was jointly led by GL Ventures and Baoding Ventures, with Ruoyuchen as a follower. Shanghai Xiaomu Ermian Investment Management Co., Ltd. served as the exclusive financial advisor for this round of financing. The funds raised in this round will be mainly used for product pipeline experiments, new raw material filings, and international customer expansion.

MetaNovas was founded in early 2021 in Silicon Valley, USA, and Shanghai, China. The company focuses on the discovery and manufacturing of AI-driven new raw materials for consumer health, utilizing AI and trillion-level knowledge graph technology to empower the development of efficacy peptides and related formulations. In March 2022, the company secured nearly ten million dollars in angel funding led by Danlu Capital and GL Ventures.

Currently, MetaNovas has built a full-chain AI technology platform covering raw material formulation, biological mechanisms, molecular design, and product development, providing new raw material development and product solutions for several well-known leading consumer goods and cosmetics companies both in China and internationally. In terms of international client expansion, relying on its Silicon Valley founding background and cross-disciplinary innovation, Metanovas has established in-depth strategic partnerships with many top multinational consumer goods corporations (MNCs) and high-potential, quality international brands.

After the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry was announced, the new paradigm of scientific research "AI for Science" gained significant attention. AI4S has already seen extensive research in the fields of life sciences, drug discovery, and materials development. MetaNovas, however, has chosen a niche market within this space — new consumer health materials represented by functional peptide materials.

Peptides are compounds formed by the covalent bonding of two or more amino acids through peptide bonds. They can be used as nutritional supplements in the food industry and in the development of skincare products in the cosmetics industry, offering anti-aging and moisturizing benefits. As a result, this material has gained significant recognition from domestic and international daily chemical and health product companies, becoming one of the key focuses in research and development.

"International daily chemical giants usually need more than a decade and substantial experimental investment to develop a new material, which is extremely challenging. However, AI methods can accelerate this process," Wang Meijie, co-founder and CEO of MetaNovas, told 36Kr. The company utilizes its self-developed AI platform to create systematic knowledge graphs that comprehensively cover the entire chain from raw material formulation analysis, biological mechanism exploration, prediction of core targets, to an AIGC-based generation platform for precise molecular design. It seeks to identify entirely new, multi-functional peptides and discover new functions of existing molecules, effectively shortening the development cycle.

Unlike ordinary AI4S startups, MetaNovas boasts remarkable commercialization capabilities. It has established business partnerships with several leading cosmetics companies both in China and internationally, engaging in a wide range of cooperative activities. These include designing new efficacy molecules, providing skincare product solutions, analyzing and improving products, developing new raw materials, and researching the mechanisms of action of these materials.

So far, MetaNovas has obtained more than 10 patents in both China and the United States. With these R&D achievements, MetaNovas has not only made its mark and presented research findings on international platforms such as the IFSCC (International Federation of Societies of Cosmetic Chemists), MIT ILP (MIT Industrial Liaison Program), FFA (Future Food Asia Conference), and SCC (Society of Cosmetic Chemists Annual Meeting), but also won the championship at L'Oréal BIG BANG 2023 Beauty Tech Challenge.

In terms of the team, the founding team of MetaNovas consists of experts from AI, biology, computational materials, and other fields in the United States, covering top research institutions and companies such as NVIDIA, FDA, MIT, and United Healthcare. The scientific advisor of MetaNovas is an academician of the British and Australian academies and the discoverer of cyclic peptides, with numerous collaborations on AI for peptide research with this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry winner, David Baker. After its establishment, the company has also attracted PhDs from Peking University, Fudan University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. MetaNovas' innovative material discoveries and related work have been published in several influential Nature journals.

Investor's Perspective:

A relevant person in charge of GL Ventures stated: "As a representative of the new paradigm in the application of consumer health materials, MetaNovas is able to analyze the biological mechanisms of raw materials in an extremely short time, accelerating the discovery and application of functional ingredients such as peptides. Its products and R&D capabilities have been recognized by many leading companies both in China and internationally. MetaNovas has not only broken through the traditional R&D bottlenecks of time and cost but also opened up an entirely new field of technical application, bringing significant opportunities for sustainable development to the industry. We are highly confident in the technological prospects and commercial potential of MetaNovas. We look forward to supporting the company in further expanding into the international market and driving the industry towards a more efficient and sustainable direction."

Zhang Yaodong, founding partner of Baoding Ventures, stated: "Having深耕ed in the cosmetics industry for thirty years, from being the national retail head of P&G's Olay to serving as Vice President of L'Oréal China, we have personally experienced and witnessed the周期of foreign enterprises entering the Chinese market and the growth of emerging domestic brands. We have seen the tremendous value that raw material innovation and product innovation can bring to a brand. We are very pleased to see the emergence of companies like MetaNovas, which use efficient and scientific AI platforms to address core issues within the industry. We also hope that the injection of Baoding Fund and the synergy of industry resources will provide greater support for the commercialization of MetaNovas."

Ruoyuchen's Chairman and General Manager, Wang Yu, pointed out that this cooperation is a key step in Ruoyuchen's brand management strategy layout. Both parties will work together to promote industry innovation and development, bringing more high-quality products to consumers. "AI technology brings new opportunities and value to brand product development. It can accurately understand consumer needs, achieve personalized customization, enhance product innovation and competitiveness, and inject strong momentum into the sustainable development of brands. Regardless of how consumer demands change, deeply integrating science with demand remains the enduring path for brands to thrive in today’s 'value competition' era."