David Younger
David Younger is the Co-Founder and CEO at A-Alpha Bio, a biotechnology startup. He has expertise in synthetic biology and protein engineering.
A-Alpha Bio, led by CEO David Younger, launches AI antibody data consortium with GSK and Boltz among five founders
A-Alpha Bio, a company spun out of David Baker's work and led by CEO David Younger, has launched a first-of-its-kind AI antibody data consortium with five founding members including GSK and Boltz to supply data for AI models designing antibodies.
Trump-Era Funding Cuts and Hiring Freeze Stall UW Protein Design Startups Led by Nobel Laureate David Baker
The University of Washington's Institute for Protein Design, led by Nobel laureate David Baker, faces a hiring freeze and funding cuts under the Trump administration, stalling its promising protein design startups and reducing opportunities for graduate students and postdocs. Despite Nobel-driven interest and advances in AI-designed proteins, budget constraints threaten future innovation and company spinoffs.
Seattle Biotech Startup A-Alpha Bio Raises $22.4M to Advance AI Platform for Protein Interaction Analysis
Seattle biotech startup A-Alpha Bio raised $22.4 million to advance its AI-driven platform that measures protein interactions, partnering with major drug companies like Bristol Myers Squibb and Gilead Sciences to accelerate therapeutic development. Its platform combines computational tools and yeast experiments to analyze nearly 500 million protein-protein interaction measurements for drug discovery.
IA40 Spotlight: A-Alpha Bio's David Younger on machine learning in biotech, building cross-functional teams
This week on Founded & Funded, Partner Chris Picardo is talking with A-Alpha Bio Co-founder and CEO David Younger for our first Intelligent Application 40 Spotlight episode of 2023. We announced the 2022 IA40 winners in October, and A-Alpha was the first biotech company to make the list, which was no surprise to us. As one of our portfolio companies, we know the work David and his team are doing at the intersections of biological and data/computer sciences will change the world — but having a group of judges agree with us makes us all the more certain. Protein interactions…
Five Finalists for 2022 GeekWire Health Innovation of the Year Include A-Alpha Bio and UW Institute for Protein Design
The 2022 GeekWire Health Innovation of the Year finalists include A-Alpha Bio, Parse Biosciences, Tasso, Truveta, and the University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design, highlighting advances in computational health approaches. Winners will be announced on May 12 at the GeekWire Awards, with community voting open until April 22.
DoD awards $1.1M to Seattle’s A-Alpha Bio to hunt antibodies for COVID-19 variants with LLNL collaboration
Seattle biotech A-Alpha Bio received a $1.1 million DoD sub-contract to collaborate with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, using its AlphaSeq platform and machine learning to identify high-affinity antibodies against current and future COVID-19 variants.
A-Alpha Bio raises $20M Series A led by Madrona to expand Seattle lab and scale protein-discovery platform
University of Washington spinout A-Alpha Bio raised $20 million in Series A funding led by Madrona Venture Group to expand downtown Seattle lab space and grow its machine-learning team for its protein-discovery platform. The company combines computational tools and yeast-based experiments to generate large protein-interaction datasets used to predict therapeutic protein candidates for diseases including COVID-19.
Gates Foundation Awards $800,000 to A-Alpha Bio to Fund AlphaSeq Antibody Research Targeting SARS-CoV-2 and Intestinal Pathogens
Seattle biotech A-Alpha Bio received an $800,000 grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support research using its AlphaSeq platform to develop multi-target antibody treatments for respiratory viruses, including SARS-CoV-2, and intestinal pathogens such as campylobacter, in partnership with Lumen Bioscience.
A-Alpha Bio wins $620,472 NSF Phase II SBIR to develop molecular-glue discovery system
Seattle startup A-Alpha Bio received a $620,472 NSF Phase II SBIR grant to develop a system that identifies molecular glues which tag disease-causing proteins for cellular degradation, aiming to target previously 'undruggable' proteins for diseases like Alzheimer’s, cancer and autoimmune disorders.
Seattle’s A-Alpha Bio Raises $2.8M Seed Round to Advance AlphaSeq Drug Discovery Platform
Seattle startup A-Alpha Bio raised $2.8 million in seed funding to advance its genetically engineered protein analysis platform, AlphaSeq, which accelerates drug candidate evaluation by sorting millions of protein interactions. The round was led by OS Fund and included investors such as Madrona Venture Group and AME Cloud Ventures.
Organizations
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A-Alpha Bio Executive Officer, Director 2019–present, Co-Founder and CEO 2017–present · current
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University of Washington Postdoctoral Researcher 2017–2018, Bioengineering Graduate Student 2012–2017 · past
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Luminex Corporation Engineering Intern 2011 · past
Education
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University of Washington Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Bioengineering · 2012–2017
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Rice University Bachelor of Science; Bachelor of Arts, Bioengineering, Economics · 2007–2012
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The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) Economics · 2009–2010
