Singapore's ChemT Raises US$4M to Bring AI to Biomanufacturing

Singapore-based ChemT Biotechnology has raised US$4 million in seed funding to apply artificial intelligence to one of pharma's toughest problems: manufacturing biologics at scale. The round was anchored by Wavemaker Ventures and SEEDS — the startup investment arm of Singapore's Ministry of Trade and Industry — with participation from Wavemaker 360 Health, Draper University Ventures, and Temasek Life Sciences Accelerator.

ChemT's technology centres on CelMo, an AI-powered "virtual cell" platform trained on proprietary biological sequencing data. The platform simulates how cells behave under different manufacturing conditions, genetic modifications, and stresses — giving drug makers a digital shortcut that replaces years of trial-and-error in the lab. The startup says it has validated the platform through lab experiments and is already working with pharmaceutical customers who are stuck on development timelines that stretch for years and production processes that break when scaled.

Biologics manufacturing — producing drugs from living cells — is notoriously expensive and unpredictable compared to traditional chemical drugs. AI-driven process optimisation could unlock significant cost savings and accelerate time-to-market for new therapies. ChemT plans to use the fresh capital to expand its AI and experimental infrastructure, move AI-designed molecular products toward regulatory readiness, and grow its commercial partnerships. The company is also looking to extend CelMo beyond CHO and T cells into stem cells, natural killer cells, and HEK cells used in gene therapy.

Why it matters for Singapore: ChemT adds to a growing cluster of Singapore-based companies applying AI to deep biotech problems, following earlier bets by SGX-listed firms and Temasek-backed ventures in AI-driven drug discovery. The involvement of SEEDS and Temasek Life Sciences Accelerator shows the government-and-SoS network continues to fund frontier science here. For Singapore's biomedical manufacturing sector — already a key pillar of the economy — AI tools like CelMo could strengthen the Republic's position as a high-value biomanufacturing hub in Asia.