
Helical is focused on providing open-source bio foundation models, particularly in the realm of single-cell analysis, enabling scientists to leverage advanced AI tools for their research. Their platform offers a community-driven approach, allowing users to fine-tune and integrate these models into their workflows, thereby enhancing research capabilities in the biological sciences. With a commitment to accessibility and collaboration, Helical positions itself as a key player in the AI for bio sector, catering to researchers and developers looking for innovative solutions.

Helical is focused on providing open-source bio foundation models, particularly in the realm of single-cell analysis, enabling scientists to leverage advanced AI tools for their research. Their platform offers a community-driven approach, allowing users to fine-tune and integrate these models into their workflows, thereby enhancing research capabilities in the biological sciences. With a commitment to accessibility and collaboration, Helical positions itself as a key player in the AI for bio sector, catering to researchers and developers looking for innovative solutions.
What they do: Platform for Bio Foundation Models enabling in-silico experiments for drug discovery and R&D
HQ: Luxembourg
Stage / funding: Seed (closed Jun 28, 2024)
Founders: Mathieu Klop; Maxime Allard; Rick Schneider
Drug discovery and pharmaceutical R&D using AI-driven in-silico experiments
2024
Biotechnology Research
Reported seed round with seven investors
“Has participation from early-stage investors and angel/backer set including Frst and named investors”
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About Us:
Helical is on a mission to democratize bio foundation models.
We build the first open-source platform for researchers & computational biologists to explore bio foundation models and create value-added applications on top of those models. We are dedicated to driving innovation in the biotech industry and revolutionize the way pharma and bio companies use AI.
Join us to be part of the early-stage founding team of Helical driving groundbreaking innovation and play a meaningful role in contributing towards us achieving our ambitious goals, while being a part of an inspiring, collaborative and entrepreneurial culture in the heart of Europe.
Your Role:
As an early member of Helical’s core Machine Learning team, you'll collaborate with Computational Biologists, Developers and Biological Scientists to develop the core pillars of our open-source AI platform and to drive novel drug development applications using cutting-edge bio foundation models methods. You'll play a pivotal role in leveraging computational experiments and data insights to contribute directly to drug discovery programs.
Key Responsibilities:
· Create your own roadmap and drive forward your own projects
· Build an ML computational platform for bio foundation models, ensuring ease of use and reproducibility.
· Collaborate with the Science team to pioneer Computational Biology methods for drug development and other biological applications.
· Develop Machine Learning workflows to enable the efficient use of bio foundation models in the context of biological applications
· Utilize diverse datasets including statistical genetics, genomics, proteomics, etc., to derive biological insights.
· Lead projects within the ML Team, evaluating and benchmarking experimental models.
· Drive team strategy and provide guidance on ML to the organization.
Requirements:
Essential:
· MSc (PhD is a +) in a technical field or equivalent practical experience.
· Proficiency in Python and related ML frameworks such as Tensorflow, TF-Serving, JAX, Pytorch and/or XLA/MLIR.
· Experience with Transformers, Diffusion and/or State Space Models
· Excitement and interest in efficiency techniques to make open science more usable under compute constraints.
· Experience using large-scale distributed training and inference.
· A true passion for applied ML models in the field of bio and AI
· Familiarity with data processing pipelines and cloud environments.
Nice to have:
· Relevant Industry experience or Open-Source experience.
· Experience with the Transformer architecture, Structured State-Space Models or Bayesian Optimization.
· Experience in Evolutionary Algorithms or Open-Endedness.
· Experience with therapeutic or diagnostic development programs.
· Strong experience in Python and ML models in computational biology.
Our Perks:
🧬 Every employee is an co-owner of Helical and you will become a member of the founding team.
🤝 An open and inclusive culture and work environment.
🤖 Work closely with a team on the cutting edge of AI research.
🚀 Access to a World-Class GPU Clusters through our Partners.
💻 Access to a world wide network of AI experts to learn from.
Office Location:
Our offices are currently in Luxembourg and London. We plan to expand our offices soon to some of the main cities of Europe. We are open to discussing accommodations for individual needs.