Matwings Technology (天鹜科技)
Shanghai AI protein-engineering company built on Hong Liang's Pro-series models, selling enzyme and biologics design projects and a conversational design agent.
1. Core Product / Service
Shanghai Matwings Technology (上海天鹜科技有限公司) was founded in September 2021 to commercialize protein language models from Prof. Hong Liang's (洪亮) group at Shanghai Jiao Tong University [1][2]. Its first platform, AccelProtein™, is built on Pro-PRIME, a temperature-guided protein language model published in Science Advances for designing variants with higher stability and activity [3]. The model stack, now branded Venus, has moved from sequence-only to structure- and evolution-aware models; Venus 3.0 is represented by VenusREM [4]. In 2026 the company launched MatwingVenus™ (晓鹜™), a conversational agent that runs literature/market research, database search, enzyme mining, directed evolution and de novo design through 200+ tools, and lets users order automated wet-lab validation in one click [5]. The associated Venus protein database is described as ten-billion-scale [5][6].
2. Target Users & Pain Points
- Enzyme and biomanufacturing users: tool enzymes (enterokinase, Protein A, T7 RNA polymerase, phi29 DNA polymerase), PET-degrading enzymes, food and nutrition ingredients [3].
- Biologics developers needing stability, expression or affinity improvements with few rounds.
- Bench scientists without ML skills, the target of the MatwingVenus agent [5].
Business model. Matwings is primarily a project-based design service: it reports 20+ (later 30+) delivered protein-engineering and enzyme-mining projects since 2021, some proprietary and some co-developed [1][3]. Clients pay for engineered sequences and validated variants; one client reportedly saved millions of USD in CMC cost using a redesigned nanobody ligand scaled to 5,000 L [3]. It also sells some proprietary enzymes as products. The 2026 agent adds a usage-style platform channel with paid wet-lab orders attached. For drugs, it took the NewCo route: in March 2026 it set up Shanghai Biowings Therapeutics to develop its own therapeutics, with Matwings supplying the engine [4]. A preclinical oral uricase is listed [7]. The best-documented pharma case is GenSci148, an ophthalmic biologic from Changchun GeneScience (金赛药业) that has IND clearance in China; Matwings reports four AI–wet-lab cycles across 222 variants for it [4]. Deal values and revenue are undisclosed.
Wet lab. The company runs iterative AI–wet-lab cycles and reports experimental results down to production scale, which implies routine access to protein expression and assay capacity [3][4]. The agent connects to a "cloud automated lab" for expression, purification and functional testing [5]; whether this lab is owned or partner-operated is not stated.
3. Competitive Landscape
| Player | Positioning | Vs. Matwings |
|---|---|---|
| moleculemind | MoleculeOS biologics + enzyme design | Overlaps on enzymes; more antibody/nanobody emphasis |
| biogeometry | GeoFlow antibody/enzyme models | More licensing; Matwings more project delivery |
| biomap | Foundation model + pharma modules | Far larger, drug-focused |
| adaptyv-bio | Pay-per-design protein validation lab | The kind of wet-lab service the agent's one-click ordering mirrors |
4. Unique Observations
- Industrial enzymes first, drugs via a NewCo. Unlike peers that pitch pharma platforms first, Matwings built revenue on enzymes and ingredients where validation is fast, then spun drug development into a separate entity. That keeps service customers from seeing it as a competitor.
- The agent is a distribution play. Bundling 200+ tools and wet-lab ordering into a chat interface targets bench scientists directly, a different buyer from the pharma platform deals of biomap.
- Evidence is mostly company-published. Project counts, CMC savings and the GenSci148 account come from company or press releases; GeneScience has not published its own description.
5. Financials / Funding
- Dec 2024, Series A: tens of millions of USD, led by Qiming Venture Partners (启明创投) [3].
- Jul 2026, A++: "several hundred million RMB", co-led by 上海国投先导 and 国投创新; new investors 聚杰微纤, 金景资本, 孚腾资本, 财鑫资本 and others; existing investors Qiming, 涌铧投资, 金沙江联合资本, 本草资本 and 上海科创基金 followed on [5].
- Earlier angel/A+ details, valuation and revenue: not disclosed.
6. People & Relationships
- Scientific founder: Hong Liang (洪亮), professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University; core founding team from SJTU [5]. Operating executives are not prominently named in coverage.
- Investors: Qiming, 上海国投先导, 国投创新, 涌铧投资, 本草资本.
- Partners: Changchun GeneScience (GenSci148); affiliate Shanghai Biowings Therapeutics.
- Peers: moleculemind, biogeometry, biomap.
Sources: [1] vbdata; [2] China AI-drug company review 2026-10-14; [3] MedTech Spectrum 2024-12; [4] company release 2026-08-20; [5] pedaily 2026-07-13; [6] China Daily 2025-03-28; [7] Asia Bio Partnering Forum profile.