Origin develops AI tools and data for cancer therapeutics, focused on designing synthetic DNA regulatory sequences that control gene expression in disease cells to make cell and gene therapies safer and more precise. The company is building a proprietary dataset of experimentally validated regulatory sequences. It has developed Axis, a model the company says outperforms Google DeepMind's AlphaGenome at predicting regulatory element activity. Origin was founded in 2025 and is part of Y Combinator's Winter 2026 batch.
Origin
ActiveAI and Data for Cancer Therapeutics
Total raised
$500K
1 round
Stage
Seed
Jan 2026
Team
1-10
since 2026
Pricing
—
Founded
2026
San Francisco, United States
Agent-ready
—
AI tools for designing synthetic DNA regulatory sequences
Axis model for predicting regulatory element activity
Focus on gene expression control in diseased cells
Proprietary dataset of experimentally validated regulatory sequences
Applications in cell and gene therapy design
Aims for safer, more precise cancer therapeutics
Benchmarked against existing genomics models such as AlphaGenome
12/100
Early
MCP server
Public API
Webhooks
OAuth 2.0
SDKs
No public agent surfaces detected yet.
Jan 2026 Seed $500K ● Y Combinator
Capital network
$500K raised ·1 backer·10 network links
- Backers1
- Shared portfoliocompanies these backers also fund
- Extended networkfunds that co-invest alongside them
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Commure
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Terray Therapeutics
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Genesis Molecular AI
Generative AI for small-molecule drug discovery
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- What does Origin's Axis model do?
- Axis predicts the activity of DNA regulatory elements that control gene expression in disease cells, which informs the design of more precise therapeutics.
- How does Origin compare to AlphaGenome?
- The company states that Axis outperforms Google DeepMind's AlphaGenome at predicting regulatory element activity. As with any benchmark claim, independent validation is advisable.
- What problem is Origin trying to solve?
- It aims to make cancer cell and gene therapies safer and more precise by designing synthetic DNA regulatory sequences that control gene expression specifically in diseased cells.
- Who would use Origin?
- It is built for researchers and biotech teams developing cell and gene therapeutics who need to design and predict the behavior of DNA regulatory sequences.
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