Cradle
Cradle is an Amsterdam-based AI biotech whose generative protein engineering platform uses proprietary ML models and an in-house wet lab to design antibodies, enzymes, peptides, and vaccines for top-25 global pharma and industrial biotech R&D teams.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersDelft, Netherlands
- Headcount101–250
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Cradle does
Cradle is a Dutch-headquartered AI biotech company that sells a generative AI software platform for protein engineering, targeting therapeutic and industrial protein R&D teams. Its platform combines proprietary protein language models with multi-property supervised predictors and an automated ML framework (CRADLE-1) to generate, score, and optimize novel protein sequences, claiming 2-12x faster development timelines across 50+ programs in modalities including antibodies, enzymes, peptides, vaccines, and gene-editing systems. A structural differentiator is Cradle's in-house Amsterdam wet lab, which runs systematic A/B testing of ML model iterations across dozens of assays to validate and continuously improve default models — a closed-loop design that most in-silico protein design competitors lack.
The business model is an annual software subscription with quote-based pricing: a Standard tier priced per active project and an Enterprise tier scaled across multiple programs and divisions, both including unlimited users, unlimited data and storage, compute, full API access, and full IP retention with no royalties or milestone fees. An application-based Academic tier serves not-for-profit research. Distribution is primarily a direct enterprise field-sales motion supported by a 'Talk to sales' funnel, a documentation portal, and an API for computational teams; a separate channel exists for CRO/service-provider partnerships. Customer concentration sits in top-tier biopharma and industrial biotech, with 6-8 of the top 25 global pharma companies as customers (Bayer, Lundbeck, Novo Nordisk, J&J, Novozymes/Novonesis, Grifols, argenx, AbbVie), plus industrial customers including Corteva and IFF. Cradle has offices in Amsterdam (HQ + wet lab), Zurich (ML engineering), and Cambridge, MA (US commercial), and is SOC 2 Type II certified and GDPR-compliant with EU data residency.
Cradle firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Cradle
- Legal name
- Cradle
- Website
- https://cradle.bio
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 101–250 employees
- Short description
- Cradle is an Amsterdam-based AI biotech whose generative protein engineering platform uses proprietary ML models and an in-house wet lab to design antibodies, enzymes, peptides, and vaccines for top-25 global pharma and industrial biotech R&D teams.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Cradle industry classification
Industry- Product category
- AI Protein Engineering
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714)
- SIC
- Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Antibody Discovery & Engineering Platforms (display tech, bispecifics, Fc engineering) (HLAAAIAB)
Keywords
Where Cradle is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Delft
- HQ country
- Netherlands
- HQ region
- Europe
Offices3 records
Markets served
Cradle business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Annual software subscription license: One annual software license per active project (Standard tier) or scaled across multiple projects and divisions (Enterprise tier); includes unlimited users, unlimited data upload and storage, compute and infrastructure, expert technical support. No royalties, milestone payments, or hidden fees. Customers retain full IP ownership of sequences and data.
- Academic program licensing: Tailored not-for-profit research licensing with limited availability; application-based enrollment separate from commercial tiers.
- Service provider / CRO partnerships: Partnership arrangements for CROs or service providers wishing to use or deploy Cradle as part of their service offering (contact-based pricing).
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Standard tier — annual license based on number of active projects |
| Subscription | Multi-year contract | Enterprise tier — scaled deployment across programs and divisions |
| Other | Annual | Academic tier — not-for-profit research licensing |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels5 records
Marketing channels8 records
Cradle product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Cradle is a generative AI software company that builds and sells a protein engineering platform used by biopharma and industrial biotechnology R&D teams to design, score, and optimize protein sequences (antibodies, enzymes, peptides, and vaccines). The platform combines proprietary machine learning models, protein language models with evotuning, and an in-house wet lab for continuous model validation. Customers access the software via a web application and REST API under annual subscription licenses.
Product overview
Cradle offers a single unified AI software platform for protein engineering, organized as a platform-plus-modules architecture. The core Cradle Platform (web UI + REST API) delivers generative AI protein design, supervised predictors, multi-property optimization, and lab-in-the-loop iteration. The core platform is extended by four modality modules (Cradle Antibody, Cradle Enzyme, Cradle Peptide, and Cradle Vaccine modules) and two industry solutions (Cradle for Biopharma and Cradle for Industrial Bio), plus a Cradle Academic Program. Three licensing tiers (Cradle Standard, Cradle Enterprise, Cradle Academic) package access to the platform, all including full API access, unlimited users/data, and no royalty fees. Underpinning the platform is the in-house Cradle Wet Lab in Amsterdam, which validates models and feeds training data, and the proprietary CRADLE-1 automated ML framework for protein lead optimization.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- CRADLE-1: Automated machine-learning framework for protein lead optimization, validated across antibodies, enzymes, peptides, vaccines, and gene-editing systems.
Products and services
- Cradle Platform
Quantifiable outcome
- 2-12x faster protein R&D timelines across 50+ programs
- +4 more outcomes
Companies that use Cradle
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Cradle technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration2 records
AI capability7 records
Feature8 records
Cradle partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship strategic partner, strategic advisor, core strategic partner, strategic partner, core technology vendor, standard infrastructure vendor, flagship infrastructure provider, lab automation partner and lab equipment vendor.
- H. Lundbeck A/Sflagship strategic partnerPartnership announced June 3, 2026 (Valby, Denmark & Amsterdam) to discover and optimize biotherapeutics for brain disorders. Cradle's AI-powered protein design platform will initially be deployed on two antibody programs targeting CNS diseases. The partnership powers Lundbeck's first end-to-end AI-guided protein engineering workflow.
- Marcus Schindler (former CSO, Novo Nordisk)strategic advisorJoined Cradle's advisory board announced March 3, 2026. As former Chief Scientific Officer at Novo Nordisk, Schindler will leverage his experience to help integrate AI solutions into complex drug discovery workflows and accelerate Cradle's scientific impact and industry adoption.
- Bayerflagship strategic partnerThree-year strategic collaboration announced January 7, 2026 (Berlin/Amsterdam/Zurich) to deploy Cradle's generative AI software platform for protein engineering within Bayer's pharmaceutical R&D workflows. Bayer integrated the platform to enhance lead generation and optimization across its therapeutic antibody pipeline, reducing optimization cycles and improving molecular potency, safety, and manufacturability. Collaboration includes a joint machine learning research project. Bayer selected Cradle from among several vendors following a successful proof of concept. Bayer later committed to strategic AI partnerships including Cradle as part of its Pharma Media Day 2026 strategy.
- Johnson & Johnsoncore strategic partnerCollaboration to accelerate research using Generative AI for Protein Engineering. Attracted as a major customer leveraging Cradle's protein design technology.
- Novozymes (now Novonesis)core strategic partnerCollaboration to accelerate research using Generative AI for Protein Engineering; one of the major customers attracted by Cradle's technology. Novozymes' CSO (now Novonesis) is quoted on the Cradle website: 'Through our partnership with Cradle, we are embedding advanced AI directly into how we innovate, enabling our teams to shorten development time and bring real-world biosolutions faster to market.'
- Grifolsstrategic partnerCollaboration to accelerate research using Generative AI for Protein Engineering (alongside Johnson & Johnson and Novozymes).
- Novo Nordiskflagship strategic partnerStrategic partnership to develop therapeutics using Cradle's AI-powered protein engineering platform. Cited as one of six top-25 pharma customers (December 2025). The former CSO of Novo Nordisk (Marcus Schindler) joined Cradle's advisory board in March 2026.
- Twist Biosciencecore technology vendorCradle's wet lab uses Twist Bioscience as its DNA synthesis provider for high-throughput protein engineering. Designs from the ML team are ordered as DNA from Twist, then transformed into E. coli for sequencing QC, expression, and protein purification.
- Benchlingcore technology vendorSelected as Cradle's Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) platform for sample tracking, data management, and entity-level computed fields powering nested sample traceability. Used across the entire wet lab workflow from DNA assembly to assay results.
- WorkOSstandard infrastructure vendorCradle uses WorkOS to provide seamless Single Sign-On (SSO) capabilities, allowing workspace administrators to set up SAML or OpenID Connect (OIDC) integrations with existing Identity Providers.
- Google Cloud Platformflagship infrastructure providerCradle's production infrastructure is built on Google Cloud Platform; all customer data is encrypted and stored in Google Cloud data centers in the Netherlands (europe-west4 region) and replicated across the EU region. Uses Google Cloud Load Balancers, Traefik reverse proxy, Google Workload Identity Federation, and Google's Privileged Access Manager.
- Vantastandard infrastructure vendorCradle uses Vanta's security and compliance automation platform to continuously monitor security controls and maintain SOC 2 Type II and broader compliance. Trust Center hosted at app.eu.vanta.com/cradle/trust.
- LAB Serviceslab automation partnerCo-presented Cradle's webinar on ML-driven protein engineering lab automation. Partnered with Cradle to design and build the ML-ready workcell powering high-throughput protein engineering in the Amsterdam lab.
- BlueCatBio (BlueWasher)lab equipment vendorCradle uses the BlueCatBio BlueWasher to accelerate purification of His-tagged proteins in their high-throughput workflow (referenced in Cradle's protein tags blog post).
- UniteLabslab automation partnerCradle plans to use UniteLabs' Data Warehouse to improve variant lookup and inventory management as part of its lab automation roadmap (mentioned in the sample tracking blog post).
- Formulatrix (Mantis liquid handler)lab equipment vendorCradle's wet lab uses the Formulatrix Mantis, a high-precision nanoliter dispensing system, to accurately deliver extremely small volumes of reagents across multiple plates.
Scale indicators11 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Cradle competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Insilico Medicine: AI-driven drug discovery company combining generative chemistry, target discovery, and predictive biology. Competes with Cradle for biopharma R&D budgets and has a similarly broad pharma partnership footprint, though stronger emphasis on small molecules and end-to-end IND-enabling pipelines.
- Absci: Generative AI drug creation company combining zero-shot generative AI models for antibodies with a high-throughput wet lab for validation. Closely comparable in lab-in-the-loop architecture and antibody focus, with additional internal cell-line and manufacturing capabilities.
- Generate Biomedicines: Generative biology platform designing novel protein therapeutics across modalities. Direct competitor in AI-driven protein design for biopharma, with comparable 'generative biology' positioning and a similar top-pharma partnership model.
- Profluent Bio: AI-first protein engineering company leveraging large protein language models to design novel protein sequences. Closely comparable in core technology (protein language models, sequence generation) and target customer segments, including therapeutics and industrial applications.
Broad incumbents
- Recursion Pharmaceuticals: AI-driven drug discovery company combining high-throughput biology, automation, and machine learning to discover and develop therapeutics. Adjacent in lab-in-the-loop AI-bio architecture, with strategic pharma partnerships and a broader pipeline model.
- Ginkgo Bioworks: Large synthetic biology platform company offering organism engineering, enzyme development, and biologics services. Comparable in industrial bio / enzyme engineering focus and large-pharma customer base, though broader scope and service-led model.
- Isomorphic Labs: Alphabet-backed drug discovery company founded by DeepMind's Alphafold team, applying AI to protein structure prediction, protein design, and small-molecule discovery. Most direct strategic competitor in AI protein design, with substantially greater capital and infrastructure resources than Cradle.
Emerging players
- EvolutionaryScale: AI research company developing frontier protein language models (e.g., ESM3) for protein design, founded by former Meta AI researchers. Direct overlap in core ML technology and protein design use cases, with a research-forward go-to-market and emerging enterprise offerings.
- Menten AI: AI protein design company focused on de novo enzyme and therapeutic protein engineering, with a wet-lab validation component. Overlaps with Cradle in enzyme and peptide modalities and serves a similar mix of biopharma and industrial biotech customers.
Regional players
- Inari Agriculture: Seed technology company using AI and gene editing to design crop performance. Comparable in agricultural bio / seed engineering use case (overlap with Cradle's Corteva Catalyst customer) and AI-driven biological design, though focused exclusively on agriculture rather than therapeutics/industrial bio.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Cradle social profiles
Digital presenceCradle compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Cradle financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Cradle leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Cradle subsidiaries and ownership
Company hierarchySubsidiaries1 record
Cradle funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds3 records
Investors3 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Cradle M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Cradle
What does Cradle do?
Cradle is a generative AI software company that builds and sells a protein engineering platform used by biopharma and industrial biotechnology R&D teams to design, score, and optimize protein sequences (antibodies, enzymes, peptides, and vaccines). The platform combines proprietary machine learning models, protein language models with evotuning, and an in-house wet lab for continuous model validation. Customers access the software via a web application and REST API under annual subscription licenses.
Is Cradle a public or private company?
Cradle is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Cradle founded?
Cradle was founded in 2021. It employs 101 to 250 people.
Where is Cradle based?
Cradle is headquartered in Delft, Netherlands, in the Europe region.
How does Cradle make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Annual software subscription license is the primary driver. The others are academic program licensing and service provider / CRO partnerships.
Who are Cradle's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Insilico Medicine, Absci, Generate Biomedicines and Profluent Bio. Broad incumbents are Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Ginkgo Bioworks and Isomorphic Labs. Emerging players are EvolutionaryScale and Menten AI. Inari Agriculture is listed as a regional player.
Does Cradle have an API?
Yes. Cradle offers a full REST API for programmatic access to its protein engineering platform. The API enables computational teams to scale their expertise without DevOps overhead, run protein design tasks, automate workflows, integrate Cradle directly into existing pipelines, and exercise more control beyond the web UI. Available to Enterprise customers alongside the web interface. Authentication handled via the Cradle platform; documentation at docs.cradle.bio. Developer documentation is at docs.cradle.bio.
What industry is Cradle in?
Cradle's product category is AI Protein Engineering. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAAAIAB, Antibody Discovery & Engineering Platforms (display tech, bispecifics, Fc engineering). Its NAICS code is 541714 and its SIC code is 7371.