Nutshell Therapeutics Completes $40M Series A+ Financing to Advance Allosteric Drug Discovery Platform and Innovation Pipeline

Recently, NUTSHELL Therapeutics officially announcedCompleted $40 Million Series A+ Financing RoundThis round of financing was led by Genesis Capital, with United Capital as co-lead investor. Existing shareholders Kunlun Capital, Source Code Capital, Northern Light Venture Capital, and Matrix Partners continued to increase their investment, while DSC Advisory served as the exclusive financial advisor. Previously, the company also received investments from well-known institutions such as BV Baidu Ventures, Frontier Capital, and Tengye Venture Capital.

NUTSHELL Therapeutics Inc. has deep academic accumulation in the field of drug development based on protein conformational regulation, and on this basis, has built a commercialized computational + experimental allosteric drug development platform ALLOSTAR.^TMUsing this platform, NUTSHELL has already launched R&D collaborations with multiple large pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology firms, achieving preliminary validation and positive progress. At the same time, NUTSHELL has also developed and validated a series of early-stage and lead molecules for allosteric mechanism drugs targeting various sites based on this platform, continuously transforming them into highly promising internal innovative pipelines.

For a long time, the development of drug molecules based on the mechanism of modulating protein conformation has mainly relied on serendipitous discoveries in experiments, lacking systematic research methods and resulting in low development efficiency. At the same time, this field also features a vast target space and significant clinical demand. NUTSHELL Therapeutics Inc. focuses on addressing the industry needs in this area through in-depth development, establishing a systematic methodology combining computational and experimental approaches. The company is progressively covering various aspects, including highly subtype-selective allosteric inhibitors for different targets, highly mutation-selective allosteric inhibitors, next-generation allosteric inhibitors that overcome multiple clinical resistance mutations, enzyme allosteric activators, agonists/inhibitors regulating protein-protein interactions, and small molecule modulators that regulate the ordering of disordered proteins. Additionally, NUTSHELL is actively building internal and collaborative innovative pipelines, steadily evolving into a technology-driven biotech company with international capabilities, specializing in the development of drugs that modulate protein conformational changes.

NUTSHELL will fully uphold the dual-driven development strategy of self-research and collaborative R&D, with a high integration of computational and experimental technologies, highly focusing on and advancing the development of a new generation of innovative drugs to address unmet clinical needs in the new paradigm of drug research and development.

Mr. Peng Zhirong, Partner of Genesis CapitalStated: "In recent years, more allosteric drugs have been clinically validated, indicating the great potential of the allosteric mechanism for difficult-to-drug targets. However, the lack of rational discovery technology has always been a pain point in the allosteric field. NUTSHELL's team, leveraging years of accumulation in academia and industry, is committed to providing attractive solutions to the field through a computational + experimental approach, and actively promoting allosteric drug pipelines into clinical trials for the benefit of patients. We are pleased to see the progress the company has made in platform construction and pipeline development, and we believe that the team will continue to lead the company forward steadily, making greater contributions to the field of allosteric drug research and development."

Chairman of Hengxu Capital, Lu Yongtao"In the context of increasingly fierce competition for conventional druggable targets, allosteric drugs have an inherent advantage in terms of selectivity and modulation mechanisms by regulating protein conformation to affect protein function. In the past, the development of allosteric drugs heavily relied on experimental methods, which were inefficient and lacked a systematic approach. NUTSHELL Therapeutics Inc., based on the founding team's deep theoretical research in the field of allostery and the world's leading allosteric drug database, has applied AI algorithms to allosteric drug development and advanced multiple new drug pipelines through its drug discovery platform. Hengxu Capital has long been focused on the application of AI in new drug development and firmly believes in the powerful collaboration between top academic and industrial teams in the AI + allostery space led by the NUTSHELL team."

Genesis Capital was founded in 2015 and is committed to investing in the growth opportunities of China's economy. We uphold the model and spirit of perpetual entrepreneurship, firmly believe in the grand proposition of improving efficiency through technology, and focus on discovering and nurturing top-tier growth-oriented entrepreneurs. We strive to be a companion to start-up enterprises, carefully accompanying them, helping teams think about growth, attract talent, pursue excellence, continuously innovate, until they grow into leading great companies in various fields.

Founder Peng Zhijian once led the establishment and oversaw Tencent's global investment and M&A operations, helping the company build a world-leading industry ecosystem. Co-founder Xu Liang, one of Tencent's earliest product managers, held various senior executive roles in product, operations, strategy, and investment during his 13-year tenure at Tencent. The founding team has collectively overseen historical investments totaling nearly 100 billion RMB across more than 300 venture capital and growth-stage enterprises globally. Genesis Capital’s long-term partners include top-tier institutions such as leading global sovereign wealth funds, international organization funds, pension funds, insurance companies, charitable foundations, and industrial capital.

Hengxu Capital was established in 2019 as the private equity investment platform under SAIC Motor Corporation Limited (referred to as "SAIC Motor", 600104.SH). Relying on the overall advantages of SAIC Motor, Hengxu Capital has positioned itself in strategic emerging industries such as advanced manufacturing, healthcare, cutting-edge technology, and consumer goods. It aims to bring continuous and stable returns to investors while contributing to the development of SAIC Motor's innovation chain and the improvement of its mobility ecosystem. Currently, Hengxu Capital has made extensive investments in the medical field, including companies like Aier Medical, Anzhi Bio, Changfeng Pharmaceuticals, Changyu Pharmaceuticals, Demed Medical, Dikai'er Medical, Gaocure Bio, Likai Technology, Marvelleaf Medical, Moyang Bio, RiboBio, Yaron Pharmaceutical, MicroHealth Bio, and UTC.

Hengxu Capital currently manages a total scale of over 20 billion yuan, with investors including industry leaders, financial institutions, local governments, and state-owned enterprises. The core team has abundant industry resources and extensive experience in project management and fund management.

Kunlun Capital was founded in 2015, focusing on value investment and emphasizing the establishment of long-term cooperative relationships with entrepreneurs. In recent years, Kunlun Capital has been deeply involved in the medical field, seeking industry partners dedicated to addressing unmet clinical needs, and has successively invested in excellent companies such as Keya Medical, EdiGene, Cytek (NASDAQ:CTKB), Huidagene, OBiO Technology, Ocean NanoTech, Leapcell Biosciences, Premia Biotech, NUTSHELL Therapeutics Inc., D1 Medtech, CellOrigin Bio, GrailBio, Huanma Biotech, Xinsi Technology, and Hexa Pharm.

Source Code is an investment institution with an entrepreneurial spirit. Since its establishment in the spring of 2014, Source Code has adhered to investing in technology-driven innovation and the creation of lasting, real value. It has invested in over 300 startups, such as ByteDance, Meituan (3690.HK), KE Holdings (NYSE:BEKE), Li Auto (NASDAQ:LI, 2015.HK), spanning stages from seed, early-stage to growth-phase investments. The industries involved include industrial digitalization, intelligent manufacturing, consumer technology, life sciences, green development, overseas expansion, and more. Source Code values entrepreneurs and is committed to "fully empowering you," providing resources like the entrepreneur ecosystem connector "Code Hub," the cognitive enhancement program "Code Brain," and the entrepreneur-focused service "Code Power."

Source Code Capital manages a total fund size equivalent to approximately RMB 35 billion, comprising both RMB and USD funds. The entrusted funds mainly come from national guidance funds, local science and innovation funds, financial institutions, market-oriented mother funds, industrial investors, globally renowned sovereign wealth funds, university endowment funds, charitable funds, pension funds, etc. Source Code Capital is practiced in institutional construction by a team of over 130 investment and professional experts, with offices located in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

Matrix Partners was founded in 2008 and is a leading venture capital firm that has long focused on early-stage and early growth-stage investments within the industry. It concentrates on investments in new technologies, hard tech, industrial digitalization, healthcare, frontier technologies, new consumer trends, and more. To date, it has invested in over 700 companies, including XPeng Motors, Li Auto, Futu Securities, Chehaoduo Group, Ele.me, Youzan, Ronbay Technology, XGIMI Technology, Momo, PingCAP, Peijia Medical, Career International, Chemclin Diagnostics, Beisen, Lexin, Zihaiguo, Chuanzhi Education, Muxi Integrated, Jane.ai, SemiDrive Technologies, Magna Robotics, CoreLink Semiconductor, Empyrean, Encheng Bio, Alligator Bioscience, and others.

Since its establishment more than a decade ago, Matrix Partners has built an investment team of over 40 people, continuously making significant investments in China and focusing on early to mid-stage companies. At the same time, we firmly believe in putting entrepreneurs first and have established a robust post-investment service system. A post-investment team of 80 people across ten different functions empowers portfolio companies in all aspects such as strategy, operations, and talent, making every effort to provide value to entrepreneurs by only helping and never interfering.

Northern Light Venture Capital was founded by Mr. Feng Deng in 2005. It is a venture capital firm with the mission of "building world-class Chinese entrepreneurs and nurturing world-class Chinese enterprises." Currently, it manages six USD funds and four RMB funds, with assets under management exceeding 30 billion yuan. The firm focuses on investing in early-stage, technology-driven outstanding enterprises, emphasizing "team, market, innovation," and growing together with the invested companies.

To date, Aurora Lights has invested in more than 400 outstanding enterprises in the fields of new technology, healthcare, and new consumer sectors, including Meituan, ThunderSoft, ChineseAll, BGI, Lan Kong Interactive, Spreadtrum Communications, Tencent Music, Han Ting Hotel, GigaDevice, Burning Rock Biotech, CITIC Pharmaceuticals, Anji Technology, Hillstone Networks, Worldield, Zelgen Biopharmaceuticals, Iray Technology, and Taimei Healthcare, among others.

Baidu Ventures is an independent venture capital institution initiated by Baidu Group, with three phases of USD/RMB funds totaling over seven billion dollars. Baidu Ventures focuses primarily on early-stage pioneering companies in emerging technologies and is dedicated to several key areas including commercial consumption, healthcare and livelihood, and technological expansion. With strong support and resource sharing from Baidu Group, Baidu Ventures has strategically positioned itself in the artificial intelligence field. To date, its investment portfolio covers new energy vehicles, life sciences, enterprise services, smart cities, semiconductors, intelligent industry, and IoT lifestyle.

The finer the granularity and the more precise and outstanding the requirements, the more they can give rise to innovative technologies. Baidu Ventures hopes to have the opportunity to discover more enterprises that implement innovative technologies in detail. Baidu Ventures will continue to support industries across various fields that contribute value to the advancement of modern human civilization, and work together with outstanding enterprises to create a better blueprint for society.

Fangyuan Capital is a private equity investment institution under the Fangyuan Financial Group, focusing on life sciences, healthcare, and related fields. Its portfolio includes: Jacobio Pharmaceuticals, XtalPi, NUTSHELL Therapeutics Inc., and DeepBiome. Fangyuan Capital is committed to seeking outstanding entrepreneurial teams, partnering with exceptional teams in the industry to identify top-tier enterprises in niche markets, leveraging extensive industry resources to deeply empower these companies, and supporting their growth journey to help them become successful enterprises with sustainable social and commercial value.

Tengye Venture Capital focuses on early-stage investments in high-tech innovative enterprises. It manages seven funds and has invested in more than 30 companies. Tengye Venture Capital has a professional investment management team with profound industry background. It seeks outstanding teams and startups with core technologies and product accumulation in emerging industries, and supports their growth with abundant industry resources. Investment areas include biomedicine and healthcare, TMT, new energy and energy conservation and environmental protection, advanced manufacturing and high-end equipment, etc. Star cases in the healthcare field include Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals, Hexa Pharm, PackGene Biotech, Jiabao Renhe, Goldstone Bio, NUTSHELL Therapeutics Inc., K2 Oncology, Guangwei Pharmaceuticals, Zhongjing Precision Health, CytoBridge Biotech, GenoMind Biotech, Aijiao Medical, and Northland Biotech.