Zafrens
Zafrens is a San Diego biotech that builds the Z-Screen high-throughput cell characterization platform — nanofabricated plates with 50,000–200,000 wells and built-in mRNA sequencing — and offers Active-seq and Active-Drug-seq assays to pharmaceutical and biotech drug-discovery partners.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2021
- HeadquartersSan Diego, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Zafrens does
Zafrens is a San Diego-based biotechnology company founded in 2021 that builds high-throughput cell characterization instrumentation for drug discovery. Its flagship product, the Z-Screen platform, is a nanofabricated assay system operating in a 50,000–200,000 well-per-plate format with a built-in mRNA sequencer, enabling simultaneous functional and transcriptomic profiling of live cells at a scale not achievable with conventional plate-based screens. Building on this substrate, the company offers two commercial assays — Active-seq, which profiles active cellular states, and Active-Drug-seq, which captures drug-induced responses — supporting applications including TCR discovery and the identification of RNA regulatory small molecules.
The company serves pharmaceutical and biotechnology customers through an enterprise B2B go-to-market combining platform licensing, direct partnerships, and custom drug-discovery services. It operates as a private Delaware C-corporation with 11–50 employees and has raised $31M cumulatively across seed and Series A rounds (including a Feb 2025 expansion), with investors including Prime Movers Lab, imec.xpand, Global Brain Corporation, KOFA Healthcare, Alix Ventures, and BlueYard Capital. Leadership comprises CEO Kandaswamy (Swamy) Vijayan and EVP of Engineering Yi Zhang.
Zafrens' business model combines upfront platform access fees with milestone-based economics on partnered discovery programs, targeting pharma and biotech R&D organizations that require deeper functional-genomic readouts than legacy screening tools provide. Strategic priorities indicated by recent financings include broadening the assay menu, deepening nanofabrication partnerships (notably with imec.xpand), and positioning the resulting datasets as a substrate for AI-driven target and mechanism-of-action discovery.
Zafrens firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Zafrens
- Legal name
- Zafrens Inc.
- Website
- https://zafrens.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2021
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Zafrens is a San Diego biotech that builds the Z-Screen high-throughput cell characterization platform — nanofabricated plates with 50,000–200,000 wells and built-in mRNA sequencing — and offers Active-seq and Active-Drug-seq assays to pharmaceutical and biotech drug-discovery partners.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Zafrens industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Drug Discovery Platform
- NAICS
- Analytical Laboratory Instrument Manufacturing (334516), Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)
- SIC
- Laboratory Analytical Instruments (3826)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Single-Cell & Spatial Omics Discovery Platforms (target ID/validation, functional profiling) (HLAAAIAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization (HLAGAJAO), Drug Discovery (Target ID/Validation & Hit Discovery) (HLAIALAA), CRISPR & Functional Genomics Screening Platforms (pooled/arrayed screens, perturb-seq) (HLAAAIAG), Target Identification & Validation Platforms (omics-driven, chemoproteomics, genetic validation) (HLAAAIAI)
Keywords
Where Zafrens is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Diego
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Zafrens business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Platform Licensing and Partnerships: Zafrens generates revenue through platform licensing deals and research collaborations with pharmaceutical companies. The company has demonstrated platform value through partnerships with pharmaceutical firms and plans to increase capacity for new collaborations.
- Drug Discovery Services: The company provides drug discovery services focused on TCR discovery and RNA regulatory small molecules, serving pharmaceutical and biotech clients.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels4 records
Zafrens product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Zafrens offers the Z-Screen platform, a proprietary nanofabrication-based benchtop instrument that performs high-throughput cellular analysis by replacing the conventional 96-well plate format with a 50,000-200,000 well plate format containing a built-in mRNA sequencer. The platform delivers paired longitudinal imaging and sequencing data at single-cell resolution, enabling pharmaceutical and biotech customers to accelerate drug discovery across small molecules, biologics, cell therapies, and gene therapies. The company also provides drug discovery services focused on TCR discovery and RNA regulatory small molecules.
Product overview
Zafrens offers a unified platform ecosystem centered on the Z-Screen™ platform, a proprietary drug discovery technology. The core platform enables high-throughput cellular analysis through a universal workflow accepting cells and beads as inputs to produce paired longitudinal imaging and sequencing data. Key platform modules include Active-seq for mapping molecular states to cell function, and Active-Drug-seq for simultaneous phenotypic and molecular screening. The platform supports all therapeutic modalities including small molecules, biologics, cell therapies, and gene therapies, with current focus areas in small molecule drug discovery and T cell analysis.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Z-Screen™: Proprietary platform enabling high-throughput cellular analysis and drug discovery through 50,000-200,000 well plate format with built-in mRNA sequencer
Products and services
- Z-Screen Platform A high-throughput cellular analysis platform that replaces conventional 96-well plate formats with 50,000-200,000 well plate formats containing built-in mRNA sequencers, enabling simultaneous imaging and sequencing of every cell in an assay to reveal causal relationships between perturbations and cellular responses. Targeted at pharmaceutical and biotech companies for drug discovery applications including small molecules, biologics, cell therapies, and gene therapies.
- Drug Discovery Services (TCR Discovery and RNA Regulatory Small Molecules) Professional services leveraging the Z-Screen platform to conduct TCR (T cell receptor) discovery for cell therapies and RNA regulatory small molecules development for pharmaceutical and biotech clients. The services help customers address long drug discovery timelines and high failure rates in clinical trials.
Quantifiable outcome
- 50,000-200,000 simultaneous experiments vs traditional 96-well format
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Zafrens
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Zafrens technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability3 records
Feature6 records
Zafrens partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Pharmaceutical FirmscoreZafrens has demonstrated platform value through partnerships with pharmaceutical firms, indicating collaborative drug discovery relationships.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Zafrens competitors and assessment
Company assessmentMarket position
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks3 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Zafrens financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Zafrens leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles6 records
Zafrens funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds4 records
Investors11 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Zafrens 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 Zafrens
What does Zafrens do?
Zafrens offers the Z-Screen platform, a proprietary nanofabrication-based benchtop instrument that performs high-throughput cellular analysis by replacing the conventional 96-well plate format with a 50,000-200,000 well plate format containing a built-in mRNA sequencer. The platform delivers paired longitudinal imaging and sequencing data at single-cell resolution, enabling pharmaceutical and biotech customers to accelerate drug discovery across small molecules, biologics, cell therapies, and gene therapies. The company also provides drug discovery services focused on TCR discovery and RNA regulatory small molecules.
Is Zafrens a public or private company?
Zafrens is a private company. It is classified as venture growth investor backed and is currently operating.
When was Zafrens founded?
Zafrens was founded in 2021. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Zafrens based?
Zafrens is headquartered in San Diego, United States, in the North America region.
How does Zafrens make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Platform Licensing and Partnerships are the primary driver. The others are drug Discovery Services.
Does Zafrens have an API?
No public API is recorded for Zafrens.
What industry is Zafrens in?
Zafrens's product category is Drug Discovery Platform. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAAAIAF, Single-Cell & Spatial Omics Discovery Platforms (target ID/validation, functional profiling), with a secondary code of HLAGAJAO, AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization. Its NAICS code is 334516 and its SIC code is 3826.