Santa Ana Biotech Startup Closes $3.7M Funding Round
Sift Biosciences, a Santa Ana-based startup, has closed an oversubscribed $3.7 million pre-seed funding round. The company is developing a platform to enhance T-cell therapies for immuno-oncology, signaling strong investor confidence in the local biotech sector.
- The funding round was co-led by Lifespan Vision Ventures and Freeflow Ventures, with additional investment from Valuence Ventures, Eisai Innovation, and SBI US Gateway Fund. As part of the financing, Altar Munis of Lifespan Vision Ventures and Kevin Barrett of Freeflow Ventures will join the Sift Biosciences board of directors. - Proceeds from the financing will be used to conduct *in vivo* efficacy studies, expand the company's AI-powered peptide discovery engine, and select a lead candidate for its oncology pipeline. - Sift Biosciences was founded in 2024 as a spinout from the University of California, Berkeley, by CEO Clare Lou, Ph.D., and Maddie Williams. The company is based in San Carlos, CA, not Santa Ana as indicated in some reports. - The company's technology platform integrates AI, metagenomics, and high-throughput immune profiling to identify microbial analogs of tumor-associated epitopes. This approach is designed to activate pre-existing memory T-cells to fight cancers that don't respond to current treatments. - Sift's initial focus is on immunologically "cold" solid tumors, which have few effective treatment options, including microsatellite-stable colorectal and ovarian cancers. The company is also exploring applications for its platform in treating autoimmune diseases. - The global immuno-oncology market is projected to grow significantly, with one forecast predicting a rise from $56.8 billion in 2025 to $246.5 billion by 2032. Another report estimates the market will grow from $94 billion in 2024 to over $421 billion by 2034. - In 2023, Orange County life sciences companies garnered $578 million in venture capital funding, with $381 million of that going to medical device companies. While the number of life sciences jobs in the county saw a slight decline in 2023, the number of life sciences establishments grew to 1,847.
