Berlin-based Yendou, a platform specializing in clinical operations automation, has successfully raised $1.3 million (approximately €1.20 million) in a pre-seed funding round. The primary investor leading this round remains undisclosed at this time.
In addition to the primary investor, the funding round also attracted participation from Infinite Fund, along with contributions from industry angels such as Meri Beckwith, co-founder of Lindus Health. The infusion of capital is intended to optimize operational efficiency within clinical trials and expedite the development of oncology treatments.
Addressing Challenges in Drug Development
Yendou highlights the critical need for advancements in drug development, citing the loss of 41 million lives annually to treatable diseases. The platform emphasizes that it typically requires 12 years and $2 billion to introduce groundbreaking medications. A significant bottleneck in this process is the time-consuming clinical site selection phase, which accounts for a substantial portion of overall trial timelines.
Many pharmaceutical companies still rely on manual processes, leading to inefficiencies in tool communication. Yendou specifically targets clinic recruitment for cancer clinical trials, aiming to revolutionize the industry’s approach to this aspect of the process.
Zina Sarif, CEO and co-founder of Yendou, stresses the importance of selecting the right clinics for successful patient recruitment. By providing pharmaceutical companies with data-driven insights, Yendou enables efficient selection of optimal clinics for their trials.
Positioning itself as the pioneering CRM tool in the realm of research and development, Yendou assists clinical operations teams in accelerating and streamlining site selection processes for oncology trials on a global scale.
Sarif elaborates on their platform’s unique value proposition, likening Yendou to a specialized Salesforce tool tailored for research and development teams in the life sciences sector. The platform offers a curated database of qualified clinical leads, aiming to facilitate and expedite the site selection and activation process for clinical trials.
Yendou’s mission is to establish a knowledge automation platform for clinical researchers, streamlining workflows, consolidating information, and ultimately expediting the delivery of clinical trials to healthcare facilities.
Since its launch in March 2023, Yendou has garnered significant interest, engaging with over 1,200 clinicians spanning 46 countries. In response to the escalating demand, the platform has entered a closed beta phase, catering to pharmaceutical and biotechnology firms seeking assistance with site selection and onboarding processes for Phase II and Phase III oncology trials.
The platform was co-founded by Zina Sarif, a clinical researcher holding a Ph.D., and Patrick Rogg, a seasoned software engineer.
Insights into the Lead Investor
Established in 2000, b2venture prides itself on being a prominent venture capital firm in Europe, specializing in early-stage investments. With a strategic focus on supporting innovative entrepreneurs and groundbreaking ideas, b2venture operates through dedicated funds and stage-agnostic investments via its direct investment track.
Originally founded in St. Gallen, Switzerland, the firm has expanded its presence with offices in Berlin, Zurich, Munich, and Luxembourg. With an annual deployment of over €100 million across Europe, b2venture has cultivated a strong investor network and has provided backing to notable companies such as 1KOMMA5°, DeepL, Facebook, Raisin, Foodspring, ORCAM, SumUp, Volocopter, and XING.