Shennon Biotechnologies raises $12M in a venture round

The round came from Future Ventures, NextGen Venture Partners, Samos Investments, Atypical Ventures and Saras Capital. Existing backers DCVC, Foundation Capital and AV8 Ventures also took part. Total funding since the 2021 founding now stands at $25 million. Valuation was not disclosed. Alongside the raise, the company named oncology veteran Cyril Konto as CEO, while founder Li Sun moves to President and Chief Technology Officer. The money goes toward three preclinical T-cell engager programs: SBT-121 for small cell lung cancer, SBT-201 for ovarian cancer, and SBT-425, a TCR-based engager for hepatocellular carcinoma. The company aims to take a development candidate toward an IND filing and Phase I within two years, and is also seeking licensing and platform partnerships. The platform combines microfluidic screening, computational binder design and AI-enabled safety assessment. Its seed round in 2023 was $13M led by DCVC. For AI founders, this is a case of machine learning used as one layer inside a drug discovery stack rather than as the whole product. Proprietary human tumor datasets and wet-lab throughput sit underneath the models. The CEO change shows a common pattern: the company is shifting from platform building to clinical execution, which is where investors will judge whether the AI components produce viable candidates.