September 16th, 2025, Dortmund, Germany – KyDo Therapeutics GmbH (KyDo), a preclinical-stage biotechnology company committed to developing novel covalent-allosteric small molecule inhibitors with the potential to become first-in-class oncology drugs, announced today the closing of its seed financing round of €4.45 million. The financing will support the development of KyDo’s frontrunner compounds for the treatment of challenging cancer variants.
The Dortmund-based company was jointly founded by Lead Discovery Center GmbH (LDC), together with scientists from the Rauh Lab at TU Dortmund University. Daniel Rauh, Professor and Chair of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry, is a leading expert in structure-based inhibitor design, protein X-ray crystallography and drug discovery. The co-founders will continue to actively guide KyDo’s management and scientific direction as collaborative partners, advisors, and members of the Scientific Advisory Board.
The core technology of KyDo was originally developed at TU Dortmund University in the Rauh Lab, and was subsequently advanced into a drug discovery program through a collaboration between LDC, TU Dortmund University, Taros Chemicals GmbH & Co. KG, and the Leibniz Research Centre for Working Environment and Human Factors (IfADo).
Led by an experienced team of managers and advisors, as well as by a robust investment syndicate, KyDo is well positioned to deliver groundbreaking science with the aim of improving patient care. KyDo announced today the successful completion of a €4.45 million seed financing round. The financing round was successfully spearheaded by I&I Bio together with KHAN-II, and with notable participation of VORNvc, and TU capital.
This new funding will support the development of KyDo’s covalent-allosteric drug discovery platform, propelling its frontrunner inhibitors towards IND-enabling studies.
“Our unique approach to address a highly relevant cancer target with novel precision medicine bears a huge potential to improve the efficacy, minimize the side effects and enable completely new combination therapies that are urgently needed,” said Matthias Stein-Gerlach, CEO of KyDo. “We are thrilled to gain the support of such an esteemed collection of investors in our quest to find first-in-class compounds to address unmet therapeutic needs in cancer.”
“KyDo has positioned itself at the forefront of covalent-allosteric inhibitor research, a novel and exciting area in the fields of drug discovery and medicine with immense potential,” said Barbora Šumová, Partner at I&I Bio and KyDo board member. “The company is built around LDC’s and Prof. Daniel Rauh’s drug discovery expertise and track record of bringing experimental medicines to patients.”
Bert Klebl, CEO & CSO of LDC added: “We are excited that our promising program can continue at KyDo. This is an important step toward urgently needed therapeutic applications for cancer patients, which will be driven forward by KyDo’s dedicated and competent team, together with its collaboration partners.”
“Covalent-allosteric modulation of target proteins represents a completely new approach in cancer therapy. In my laboratory at TU Dortmund University, we pioneered this concept and demonstrated its potential to overcome resistance mechanisms that limit current therapies. With KyDo, together with trusted partners, we now have the opportunity to translate this science into real medicines for patients. The successful seed financing underlines both the quality of our science and the strength of Dortmund and North Rhine-Westphalia as a drug discovery hub,” added Daniel Rauh.
Dirk Kanngiesser, Managing Partner at TU capital, said: “We were impressed by the scientific depth and translational focus of KyDo. This is exactly the kind of groundbreaking science emerging from TU Dortmund University that we aim to support, in order to build globally competitive companies rooted in our region.”
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About I&I Bio
i&i Bio is a Luxembourg-based venture capital fund focused on innovative European life science companies in drug discovery, medical devices, diagnostics, and digital health. Established through a partnership between the biotech incubator i&i Prague and the European Investment Fund (EIF), the fund manages €53 million and invests in a diversified portfolio of early-stage companies across Central Europe. With a team experienced in private equity, healthcare, and venture capital, i&i Bio combines financial investment with strategic support to help entrepreneurs achieve international growth. Its principal sponsor, i&i Prague, plays a pivotal role in advancing transformative technology companies in Central Europe.
Further information at: www.inibio.eu.
About KHAN Technology Transfer Fund II (KHAN-II)
KHAN-II is an early-stage life sciences venture fund with the mission to create value through cooperative drug development partnerships with academic innovators in Europe. KHAN-II focuses on first-in-class therapies for attractive markets with a high unmet medical need. KHAN-II has unique access to cutting-edge scientific research at Max Planck and leading European academia. KHAN-II is managed by Khanu Fondsverwaltung GmbH, a world class drug discovery and fund team, having access to the state-of-the-art drug discovery incubator Lead Discovery Center GmbH, achieving an exceptional low attrition rate and effective investments. KHAN-II received an investment from the European Investment Fund (EIF) with the support of InvestEU Equity with the financial backing of the European Union, and ERP-EIF Facility with the financial backing of the German Federal Government. KHAN-II is also supported by Akros Pharma Inc., Max Planck Foundation, and Thyssen’sche Handelsgesellschaft mbH. In addition, KHAN-II sustains a preferred partnership with the Max Planck Society (Max-Planck-Gesellschaft e.V.).
Further information at: info@khanu.de
About VORNvc
VORNvc is a venture capital fund based in Dortmund with a fund volume of over €32 million, set up by local savings banks, NRW.Bank and private investors. The experienced management team invests up to €5 million in technology-driven start-ups across multiple financing rounds. In addition to capital, VORNvc provides access to regional networks and SME expertise to drive the region’s economic transformation.
Further information at: www.vorn.vc
About TU capital (TUc)
Alongside the Center for Entrepreneurship & Transfer (CET) and the Start-up Foundation of Dortmund Universities, TUc is another mainstay of start-up support at TU Dortmund University. TUc extends support for start-ups from the university through funding and mentoring. In the best case, the start-ups should go through the programs of the CET or have other links to the TU Dortmund. TUc works closely with the CET and the Technology Transfer Office of the TU Dortmund. As a limited partnership, companies or private investors can participate as limited partners in the TU capital investment fund and support start-ups from their own region. TU capital has an experienced management team with many years of familiarity with the investment process, especially in technology-oriented start-ups. The fund structure as a GmbH & Co. KG allows a simplified entry of investors as additional limited partners.
Further information at: www.tu-capital.com
About Lead Discovery Center (LDC)
LDC was established in 2008 by the technology transfer organization Max Planck Innovation, as a novel approach to capitalize on the potential of excellent basic research for the discovery of new therapies for diseases with high medical need. LDC takes on promising early-stage projects from academia and transforms them into innovative pharmaceutical leads and antibodies that reach initial proof-of-concept in animals as well as candidate nomination. In close collaboration with high-profile partners from research and industry, LDC is building a strong and growing portfolio of small molecule and antibody leads with exceptional medical and commercial potential.
LDC sustains a long-term partnership with the Max Planck Society and its institutes as well as with KHAN-I and KHAN-II, and has formed alliances with AstraZeneca, Bayer, Boehringer Ingelheim, Merck KGaA, Daiichi Sankyo, Qurient, InvIOS, Novo Nordisk, Cumulus Oncology, Nodus Oncology, JT Pharmaceuticals, KinSea Lead Discovery AS, HLB Pharma, the Helmholtz Center for Infection Research, e.g. In addition, LDC also works with leading translational drug discovery centers and with various investors to provide its assets for company creation.
Further information at: www.lead-discovery.de
About Prof. Daniel Rauh
Daniel Rauh is Professor and Chair of Chemical Biology and Medicinal Chemistry at TU Dortmund University, focusing on genetically defined cancers using protein X-ray crystallography, structure-based design, and organic synthesis. His work aims at understanding cancer resistance and developing inhibitors. Daniel founded the Center for Integrated Drug Research (ZIW) and the Drug Discovery Hub Dortmund (DDHD) to translate research into pharmaceutical applications. As a serial entrepreneur, Daniel co-founded several startups in the field of cancer therapy, including Pearl River Bio GmbH, which was successfully acquired by Centessa Pharmaceutical in 2021.
Further information at: www.rauh-lab.de
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Contact:
pr@lead-discovery.de (for KHAN-II)
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