BioNTech Acquires Tunisia-Founded AI Startup InstaDeep for $684m
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Loading... - Oliver Johnston
- 09 Feb 2023
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Following a multi-year partnership, German biotech company BioNTech acquires Tunisia-founded and UK-based AI Startup InstaDeep for $684m to boost drug discovery efforts.
In its largest acquisition to date, German biotech firm BioNTech SE will acquire InstaDeep, a Tunisia-born and U.K.-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup, for up to £562 million (~$680 million).
According to the Financial Times, the German vaccine manufacturer plans to employ InstaDeep’s machine learning to “enhance its drug discovery process, including the development of personalized cancer medicines.”
BioNTech is reported to pay £362 million upfront in a combination of cash and an unspecified number of BioNTech shares. The remaining £200 million is contingent on InstaDeep’s future performance, according the company’s statement.
In January of 2015, Karim Beguir and Zohra Slim’s 2014 startup InstaDeep raised $100 million in Series B funding headed by Alpha Intelligence Capital and CDIB. BioNTech was one of the participating investors, which also included Chimera Abu Dhabi, DB Digital Ventures of Deutsche Bahn, and Google.
The Paris, Tunis, Lagos, Dubai, and Cape Town offices of the Tunis and London-based enterprise AI startup that uses advanced machine learning techniques to bring AI to applications within an enterprise setting also have a presence in Tunis. Read More…
