SCVC leads Houdini Bio's pre-seed as it emerges from stealth with £1.5m funding

Houdini Bio, a University of Cambridge spinout emerging from stealth with a novel approach to improving the performance of gene and cell therapies, has raised nearly £1.5 million in a combination of non-dilutive grant funding and pre-seed investment led by SCVC, the venture capital arm of Science Creates.

The oversubscribed round, which included participation from Deep Science Ventures and Cambridge Enterprise VC, will support the development of Houdini Bio's machine learning-powered platform. By redesigning therapeutic DNA to bypass the body's defence mechanisms (specifically the HUSH protein complex), its technology enables treatments to remain active for longer inside patients and be administered at lower doses, overcoming major barriers to their long-term effectiveness and safety.

Houdini Bio's preclinical data indicates its approach can increase gene expression by more than tenfold compared to existing methods from competitors.

Founded in 2025 by CEO Jonathan Cohen-Gold and Chief Business Officer Lee Dunham, the company graduated earlier this year from Cohort 3 of Science Creates' national Engineering Biology Accelerator programme, which has so far supported 60+ early-stage founders seeking to build commercially resilient Deep Tech ventures tackling major challenges in human and planetary health.

Harry Destecroix, SCVC Managing Partner & Science Creates Founder, said:

"Gene therapies really do represent the future of medicine, but they are stuck behind an invisible commercial and biological bottleneck. Houdini Bio has developed a compelling approach to overcoming one of the field's most persistent challenges, and it’s great to have led this investment from SCVC. It’s particularly exciting that Houdini Bio was also a graduate from the latest cohort of our Science Creates Accelerator programme, reflecting our commitment to supporting Deep Tech founders across every stage of their venture building."