Estonian healthtech startup for faster drug development Elnora AI raised €95K

Estonian healthtech startup for faster drug development Elnora AI (ex-Nora AI) has raised around €95K from US accelerators Boost VC, Plug and Play Tech Center, and some business angels from Estonia.

The startup received €30K at a valuation of €1.5M from Startup Lithuania Accelerator powered by Plug and Play. The accelerator program will last from August to October 2024, at the end of which, Startup Lithuania Accelerator will announce applicants for a trip to Silicon Valley in 2025. The winners will be able to participate in the annual training program The GOAL (Global Overseas Acceleration & Learning).

Elnora AI secured €50K from the US accelerator Boost VC in exchange for 2.5% with the possibility of further investment at a $2M valuation through a SAFE note.

The startup also raised an additional €15K from Estonian business angels, whose names were not disclosed. Last year, the startup raised €65K from business angels, including Estonian business angel and co-founder of the investment platform Grunfin Triin Hertman, ex-CEO of Cleveron Arti Kutt, entrepreneur and researcher at the Tartu University Liina Joller-Vahter, and others.

Founded in Tallinn in 2023 by Karl-Oskar Masing and Carmen Kivisild, Elnora AI is developing a platform to automate routine tasks for biomedical researchers, such as summarizing scientific information, analyzing research data, and predicting new drug candidates.

The platform processes data from failed experiments, retests under different conditions, and global studies. The company's team extracts data from publicly available datasets and scientific articles and integrates it with the researchers' original data. The collected data is validated and used to compare solutions presented in the scientific literature with existing ideas. As a result, the platform can present this data coherently and factually, and recommend new drug candidates. This approach can save scientists and companies time and reduce costs in conducting clinical research.

Founded in 2006 by Saeed Amidi, Plug and Play runs more than 60 acceleration programs a year having more than 2.5K startups finishing them. In 2023, Plug and Play launched the Startup Lithuania Accelerator. Lithuania is the only country in Central and Eastern Europe where an international accelerator runs its program. Apart from initial investment, Startup Lithuania Accelerator offers a chance for a further €150K investment through a convertible note.  

Founded in San Mateo, California by Adam Draper and Brayton Williams, Boost VC focuses on investment in deep tech startups, including crypto, space, bio, AI, robotics, VR, and Sci-Fi. The fund manages over $200M in AUM.

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