CelMo: An AI-Driven Brain for Biomanufacturing
Singapore-based ChemT Biotechnology closed a $4 million seed round to commercialize CelMo, its AI-powered Virtual Cell platform designed for biomanufacturing. CelMo uses proprietary biological sequencing and experimental data to simulate how cells behave under manufacturing conditions, creating a predictive map of growth, metabolism and stress response.
Rather than treating process development as trial and error, CelMo models intracellular networks and environmental inputs so teams can test media, feeds and process parameters in silico. The platform currently addresses standard production lines such as CHO cells and therapeutic cell types including T cells. Roadmap items include stem cells, natural killer cells and HEK cells. Outputs from CelMo aim to shorten development cycles, reduce failed runs and guide scale up toward regulatory compliant manufacturing.
Strategic Investment Fuels Growth and Industry Impact
The $4 million seed round was led by Wavemaker Ventures with participation from SEEDS, Wavemaker 360 Health, Draper University Ventures and the Temasek Life Sciences Accelerator. ChemT reports commercial engagement with more than 40 global partners across biopharma and CDMO customers, signaling early traction for an AI-first approach to process optimization.
Funds will be directed to expand AI infrastructure, accelerate model training on expanded cell types and advance molecular products to GMP standards suitable for clinical and commercial manufacturing. By providing a computational layer that predicts cell-level outcomes, ChemT positions manufacturers to run fewer physical experiments while reaching higher yields and more consistent product quality.
For investors and practitioners, CelMo represents a pragmatic application of artificial intelligence in life sciences: actionable predictions that shorten timelines, reduce unit cost of goods and improve supply reliability for biologics. As biomanufacturing scales to meet demand for complex therapeutics, AI models that translate cellular behavior into process decisions will increasingly shape how medicines are produced and delivered.
