Seed financing details
DropGenie announced $5 million in seed financing on 26 October 2026. The funding includes investments from BDC Thrive Venture Fund and Skeleton Key.
Automated gene-editing technology
DropGenie is a functional biology company based in Montreal, Canada, with operations in Montreal and Boston. The company builds an automated microfluidics platform for gene editing and data generation to support drug discovery and biological research.
Its first product allows researchers to perform high-efficiency gene editing directly in primary patient-derived cells. The platform miniaturizes gene-editing workflows, using up to 100 times fewer cells and smaller volumes of reagents than traditional methods. This enables researchers to generate biological data from patient-derived samples while conserving limited cell supplies.
Expansion and use of funds
The new capital will be used to accelerate the commercialization of DropGenie's first product, expand partnerships focused on generating biological data for drug discovery, and scale its functional biology platform.
DropGenie plans to offer access to its platform through direct laboratory use, research services and strategic data partnerships. These partnerships aim to develop standardized biological datasets to support research into gene function, disease mechanisms, target evaluation and AI-driven drug discovery tools.
Company leadership
DropGenie is led by Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer Alison Hirukawa. "Primary human cells hold the answers drug developers need, but they've been too scarce to study at scale," Hirukawa said. "We make those experiments practical, and BDC Thrive Fund helps us bring that to more teams, faster."