Cradle
Description: Building AI for Protein Design
Investors: Index Ventures
Reference Link to Deck: https://www.businessinsider.com/cradle-biotech-startup-raises-54-million-in-fresh-funds-2022-11?r=US&IR=T
Stage: Seed
Part 1 — Slide Transcriptions
Slide 1 — Title
Slide 2 — Our Team
Slide 3 — Advisors & Angels
Slide 4 — Mission
Slide 5 — Vision: Factories of Life
Slide 6 — Market Potential
Slide 7 — What is “almost anything”?
Slide 8 — Challenge
Slide 9 — Current State
Slide 10 — Solution: Generative ML
Slide 11 — Product UI
Slide 12 — Collaboration
Slide 13 — Growth Flywheel
Slide 14 — Why Now?
Slide 15 — Business Model
Slide 16 — Closing
Part 2 — Design & Framing per Slide
Slide 1 — Title
Minimal white background with large black typography. Immediate clarity: Cradle’s focus is “better proteins.” Clean and scientific.
Slide 2 — Team
Grid layout of headshots + bios. Anchors credibility with experience at Google, Amazon, ETH Zurich, TU Delft. Location noted to signal hubs of biotech/ML talent.
Slide 3 — Advisors & Angels
Two bold colored blocks for investors, right column for notable angels. Frames strong backing from both venture funds and scientific leaders.
Slide 4 — Mission
Simple, bold statement with large typography: “make programming biology easy.” Subtext anchors it to proteins/enzymes. Sets an ambitious but focused north star.
Slide 5 — Vision
Factory conveyor belt imagery with industries labeled (Pharma, Chemicals, Materials, Food, Biotech). Visual metaphor: biology as a universal production line.
Slide 6 — Market
Bar chart comparing high vs. low estimates, across multiple industries. Uses economic framing to convey “trillion-dollar” potential. Anchors credibility in McKinsey/academic data.
Slide 7 — What is “anything”
Three-column breakdown (Pharma, Chemicals, Food). Simple typography. Expands abstract “almost anything” into concrete product categories.
Slide 8 — Challenge
Large, playful typography (“Proteins are incredibly powerful but hard...”). Uses wavy underline design element to visually emphasize difficulty.
Slide 9 — Current State
Process flow diagram + failure rates. Frames today’s methods as slow, expensive, ineffective. Sets up rationale for disruption.
Slide 10 — Solution
Colorful diagrams of protein folding, stability, codon optimization. Explicit analogy to DALL·E/Copilot anchors concept in widely understood ML tools.
Slide 11 — Product UI
Screenshots of actual platform. Establishes credibility that this is not just vision but already a functioning product.
Slide 12 — Collaboration
UI mockup with sharing options. Framing: not just a tool, but collaborative and scientific-community-ready.
Slide 13 — Growth Flywheel
Flow diagram: Data → Designs → Experiments → Users → Projects. Classic SaaS growth framing applied to biotech.
Slide 14 — Why Now
Four icons with short text blurbs (demand, cost, ML, investment). Design makes urgency and timing obvious.
Slide 15 — Business Model
Two-panel visual (Studio vs. Experiments). Clear separation between software revenue (scalable) and services (expert-driven).
Slide 16 — Closing
Minimal “Thank you!” with soft gradient background. Clean exit.