HotHouse Therapeutics has raised £2.9 million in pre-seed funding as it comes out of stealth, backing its mission to develop sustainable, scalable pharmaceuticals using AI-optimised plant-based chemistry. 

The Norwich-based startup, supported by SynBioVen, Start Codon, UKI2S, Twin Path Ventures, Wren Capital, angel investors and an Innovate UK grant, is initially targeting the vaccine industry’s reliance on QS-21, which is currently sourced from the bark of a slow-growing Chilean tree. 

HotHouse says its AI-powered plant bioengineering platform can produce QS-21 and related adjuvants through bioengineered plants grown anywhere, cutting supply-chain fragility and improving access for low and middle-income countries.