Kerna Ventures Research
Investment Thesis
Kerna Ventures is a London-based, early-stage, academia-rooted and geography-agnostic venture firm founded in 2022. It invests in advanced therapeutic platform technologies, with a focus on genome engineering, cell reprogramming and computational biology. The firm's tagline is "Inspired by innovation in biology. Investing in genetic medicines." The name comes from the computer-science kernel and from RNA, and the firm describes itself as a catalyst for startups working across physics, biology and computer science. It says it often acts as a founder's first institutional investor, providing access to talent, next-round capital and new markets.
Sector Focus
The portfolio is almost entirely genetic medicine and drug-delivery platforms:
- Gene editing and epigenome editing (Arbor, Epicrispr)
- Non-viral and RNA delivery, including blood-brain barrier shuttles (Aerska, Travin, Breeze, Land)
- Cell reprogramming and cell therapy (Axent, Renewal)
- Protein engineering and in silico biologics (Kamal, Proteinea, Cavalry)
- Gene therapy, small molecules, oncolytic viruses and immune tolerance (Focalis, Rouge, Vivere, Nodal)
Many companies are university spinouts (UC Berkeley, UCL, University of Maryland) or built on renowned academic work (Feng Zhang, Jacob Hanna). The firm does not appear to invest in non-biotech sectors.
Stage Focus
The site states Seed to Series B. LinkedIn describes the firm as investing seed through Series A. Third-party databases list cheques of roughly $500K to $5M. These ranges come from secondary sources and are lower confidence than the firm's own statements.
Check Size
Roughly $500K to $5M per third-party profiles. The firm does not publish a check size.
Lead Tendency
Not stated. The firm says it often acts as a first institutional investor, but no lead or follow roles are documented, so lead tendency is recorded as unknown.
Recent Activity
The site lists 15 named portfolio companies, three of them in stealth (Land, Nodal, Travin), and states 17 total portfolio companies. Arbor has a $2B partnership with Chiesi and Breeze has a $644M partnership with Genentech. Epicrispr is in a Phase 1/2 trial for FSHD. The firm publishes sector landscape reports on Medium: In Vivo CAR-T and B-Cell Depletion (June 2026), Blood-Brain Barrier Hitchhikers (November 2025), the Obesity Therapeutics Landscape (September 2025), Inside Big Pharma (June 2025) and The In Vivo CAR-T Race (March 2025). No fund size or new fund announcement was found. Fund status is unknown.
Portfolio Highlights
Arbor Biotechnologies (CRISPR discovery, co-founded by Feng Zhang), Breeze (polymer nanoparticles, Genentech deal), Epicrispr (CasMINI epigenome editors, in the clinic), Proteinea (AI-driven antibody engineering), Renewal Bio (cell differentiation platform from the Jacob Hanna lab), Axent (biomaterial cell therapy for Parkinson's), Aerska (BBB shuttle for RNA therapeutics), Kamal (protein therapy for DEB).
Team
- Daniel Moore, Advanced Therapies Lead (PhD molecular biology, joined the lead role in Feb 2026)
- Jack Byrne, Senior Associate and Genetic Medicine Lead
- A third investor, Peter L., appears on LinkedIn; the full name was not verified
The firm's website has no team page. Names come from LinkedIn and third-party profiles, so partner-level leadership and carry holders are not confirmed.
Decision Process
Not disclosed. The site says "We screen hundreds of teams, meet with tens, and invest in ones." Process structure is recorded as unknown.
Founder Preferences
Scientific founders with deep platform expertise, often academic spinouts or teams led by experienced industry leaders (for example ex-Alnylam leadership at Aerska). The firm favors platform technologies over single assets.
Geographic Focus
Geography-agnostic, headquartered in London. Portfolio companies span the US (Berkeley, Maryland) and the UK (UCL). Third-party sources list the US, UK, Germany, France, Italy and Denmark.