Tetsuwan Scientific, a cutting-edge San Francisco-based start-up, has closed an oversubscribed $2.7 million pre-seed funding round to propel the development of its AI-powered robotic scientists. Led by 2048 Ventures, the round saw investment from Carbon Silicon, Everywhere Ventures, and influential angel investors, including Sonia Arrison from the Foresight Institute and Eduardo Torrealba of Formlabs. This funding has accelerated Tetsuwan’s deployment of its inaugural autonomous AI system, which is now operational in a rare disease gene therapeutics lab.

Tetsuwan Scientific is charting new territory with its “AI scientists”—fully autonomous systems that merge robotics and advanced artificial intelligence to conduct laboratory experiments. Much like how Waymo has advanced the realm of autonomous vehicles, Tetsuwan envisions its AI scientists reshaping the lab environment by performing intricate, real-world scientific tasks independently. With this fresh infusion of capital, the company has rapidly expanded to a team of seven, pulling expertise from prestigious institutions like Caltech, ETH Zurich, MIT, and UC Davis.

Founded in 2023 by Cristian Ponce (CEO) and Théo Schäfer (CTO), Tetsuwan Scientific brings together a unique blend of biological and mechanical engineering talent. Ponce, who holds a background in biological engineering from Caltech, contributed to research in full-genome engineering, while Schäfer recently completed his master’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from ETH Zurich, rounding out his studies with a thesis at MIT. The duo, who met through Entrepreneur First’s U.S. program, are supported by advisor Aaron Kimball, former CTO of Zymergen and Director of Engineering at Benchling.

One of the first companies to pursue commercial development of autonomous AI scientists, Tetsuwan is riding the momentum of breakthrough research in 2023, which showcased how AI-driven language models can partner with robots to conduct experiments (notably through initiatives like CMU’s Coscientist and EPFL’s ChemCrow). Tetsuwan’s mission is to empower artificial intelligence with physical capabilities, thereby mass-producing scientific talent that is faster, cheaper, and more reliable than human scientists. By automating routine experimentation, Tetsuwan aims to unlock human scientists’ potential for creativity and innovation, effectively scaling up the pace of discovery.

As Tetsuwan’s vision unfolds, the company sees a future in which scientific labor, generated at an unprecedented scale, drives a new era of accelerated innovation.