Traditional RNA-seq testing is expensive, slow, and difficult to scale, making it hard for researchers to run large experiments during early drug screening.
Swiss biotech startup Alithea Genomics is trying to solve that problem. The company has closed a CHF 6.9 million ($8.9 million) seed funding round to scale its RNA sequencing technology and make large-scale transcriptomics more accessible for drug discovery and toxicology research.
The round included an additional CHF 3 million ($3.9 million) led by Genku Ventures, with participation from Novalis Biotech, Zürcher Kantonalbank, and several private investors.
Funding deployment
The funding will help Alithea accelerate the commercialisation of its 1536-well MERCURIUS DRUG-seq kits, designed to dramatically increase the scale of RNA sequencing experiments. These kits allow scientists to process up to 1,536 samples at once, a capability previously limited by cost and throughput.
This makes it easier for pharmaceutical companies to use transcriptomics during early drug screening and toxicology studies.
The company also plans to invest the new funds in developing new technologies and building proprietary transcriptomic datasets to support AI and machine-learning research in drug discovery.
Jan Van den Berghe, Lead Investor at Novalis Biotech, said: “Alithea’s technology has reached a level of scalability and data quality that fundamentally changes what is possible in transcriptomics. This is not incremental progress — it is a step-change that unlocks industrial-scale biology for drug discovery, toxicology, and AI-driven research. Our additional investment reflects our conviction that Alithea is becoming the data engine enabling the next generation of therapeutics and predictive biological models.”
Leadership changes announced
Alongside the funding announcement, the company also revealed leadership changes. Frederik Decouttere, currently Chairman, will now become Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Co-founder Riccardo Dainese, who previously served as CEO, will move into the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) role to focus on commercial strategy and business development.
Decouttere said: “As Alithea continues to innovate, expanding product commercialisation with new innovative RNA sample prep kits to disrupt the genomic research sector, we have transitioned my operational role to CEO, enabling Riccardo to fully focus on commercial and business development, ensuring we meet the needs of our customers.”
“This new funding will enable Alithea to unlock the full potential of our unique RNA-based technology platforms on a scale and price point that are unique to our industry. In a world where the impact of AI becomes more visible every day and where high-quality data is key to further improving AI models, Alithea’s RNA-seq platforms are set to significantly accelerate our customers’ research, toxicology, and screening projects. We’d like to thank all of our investors for their continued support and confidence in Alithea.”
Technology designed to reduce cost and complexity
Alithea Genomics was founded in 2020 at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). The company develops multiplexed library preparation technologies for RNA sequencing, including BRB-seq and DRUG-seq.
These systems allow researchers to prepare hundreds or even thousands of RNA samples for sequencing in a single tube, reducing time, reagent usage, and manual lab work.
What does RNA sequencing do?
RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) studies the RNA molecules in biological samples using next-generation sequencing technology.
The technique helps scientists understand which genes are active or inactive in cells, and how they respond to drugs or environmental changes. This information is critical for many stages of drug development, including disease research, target discovery, and toxicity testing.
