10x Science Raises $4.8M to Apply AI to the Bottleneck Slowing Drug Discovery

10x Science, a startup using AI agents to automate the characterisation of drug candidates, has raised a $4.8 million seed round led by Initialized Capital, with backing from Y Combinator and Civilization Ventures. The company was founded in December 2025 by chemical biologist David Roberts, biologist Andrew Reiter, and serial founder Vishnu Tejus, all of whom worked together in Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi’s Stanford laboratory.

The platform combines AI agents with deterministic chemistry and biology algorithms to interpret mass spectrometry data — a highly accurate but time-intensive technique for analysing molecular structure. Roberts argued that while AI prediction tools have flooded the top of the drug development pipeline with candidates, every one still requires manual characterisation before progressing.

Early users at contract research firm Rilas Technologies reported that the platform autonomously located relevant data, explained its conclusions, and adapted across different molecule types. The seed funding will support engineering hires and further model refinement.

Featured image: Credit: 10x Science