Cradle

AI protein engineering / biotech R&D platform

Cradle is a Dutch–Swiss biotech software company (founded 2021, HQ Amsterdam) providing generative AI for protein engineering. Its platform lets scientists upload experimental data, train project-specific models, and generate optimized protein sequences balancing multiple properties (binding, stability, expression, activity) simultaneously. CRADLE-1, its lead-optimization framework, claims 2–12× faster R&D and ~90–95% success hitting target product profiles vs traditional workflows. Cradle runs its own Amsterdam wet lab to validate and improve its AI core.

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Benchling — R&D cloud platform with bioregistry and increasingly AI features.
Generate Biomedicines — AI-native protein design (therapeutics-focused competitor).
Profluent — AI protein design using language models for novel sequences.

Features & details

Full overview from our catalog (read-only reference).

Category (short)

AI protein engineering / biotech R&D platform

Sponsored note

Target audience

Biotech and pharma protein engineering teams, Industrial bio companies optimizing enzymes for manufacturing, Organizations with measurable assay data ready for ML-guided design, Academic not-for-profit labs accepted into Cradle’s academic program, Not ideal for: solo developers, non-biology use cases, or teams without wet-lab validation capacity.

Best for

Pricing notes

Verified from cradle.bio/licensing (July 2026): No public list pricing — sales-led enterprise model. Standard — Annual license based on number of active projects. Enterprise — Multi-program, multi-division deployment; contact sales. Academic — Not-for-profit research program; limited availability; apply via site. Included in all licenses — Unlimited users, unlimited data upload/storage, compute/infra included, full platform + API access, sequence IP ownership, no royalty/milestone fees (vendor claim). Industry estimates — Mid-to-high five figures USD annually minimum (third-party; not confirmed by Cradle).

Pros & cons

Editorial notes to help compare fit before opening the vendor site.

Pros

Wet-lab-validated AI with proprietary Amsterdam lab feedback loop
Multi-property optimization vs sequential traditional methods
Clear licensing — no royalties/milestones
customers own sequence IP
Full API + UI for mixed wet-lab/computational teams
Strong funding and pharma/industrial customer traction

Cons

No self-serve or public pricing — long enterprise sales cycle
Requires experimental data and biology expertise to extract value
Not accessible to individual researchers without academic program
Compute/project limits may apply per contract (undisclosed)
Unrelated “Cradle” products create naming confusion in search

Review notes

Context from the listing review and editorial research.

Cradle is well-funded ($73M Series B, Nov 2024 per TechCrunch) and recognized in European biotech (Wired hot startups 2024, Bloomberg 25 European startups 2025). Customers cite 2–12× speedups and high candidate quality ratings (~8/10 per vendor case studies). Enterprise-only access and biology-specific domain are barriers for general AI directories. Distinct from unrelated “Cradle” requirements-management software (3SL/threesl.com).

Extended features

In-depth description and capability notes.

Multi-property optimization — Simultaneous optimization of binding, thermostability, expression, and more. Automated model fine-tuning — Custom models per round from public data, Cradle wet-lab data, and customer assays. Intelligent plate design — Full experimental plates via thousands of in-silico simulations. Web UI + API — Accessible to bench scientists; programmatic access for computational teams. Private workspaces — Customer data and models remain private; SSO, 2FA, role-based permissions. CRADLE-1 framework — Automated lead optimization across antibodies, enzymes, peptides, vaccines, CRISPR.

Use cases

Cradle serves pharma, industrial biotech, and foodtech teams running protein design–build–test–learn cycles. Scientists upload screening/assay results, generate candidate libraries, test in lab, and iterate — Cradle learns from each round. Modalities include antibodies (VHH, scFv, IgG), enzymes, peptides, and vaccines. Not for individual hobbyists; enterprise and qualified academic program only.