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Kopra Bio

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Kopra Bio

Genetically engineered viruses that teach your immune system to kill…

kopra.bio
HQ: San Francisco, CA, USA
1-10
Healthcare

Company research

Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals

Updated Jul 30, 2026

Overview

Kopra Bio is a San Francisco-based YC-backed biotechnology company developing non-lytic viral immunotherapy that turns cancer cells into local biofactories to stimulate anti-tumor immunity, with an initial focus on glioblastoma.

Primary product

Genetically engineered viral immunotherapy platform for solid tumors, initially glioblastoma

Founded

2024

Headquarters

San Francisco, California, United States

Team size

1-10

Industry

Biotechnology Research

Sub-industry

Viral immunotherapy / oncology

Offices

San Francisco, California, United States

Business model

Therapeutic product development
Clinical-stage biotech
Research commercialization / platform licensing

Funding

Stage

seed

Total raised

$9.7M

Latest round

Seed · Jun 2026

Latest amount

$9.1M

Seed

Jun 2026

$9.1M

Grant

Jan 2025 · QB3

$100K

Pre-seed

Sep 2024 · Y Combinator

$500K

People & investors

Leadership

Andrew Bartynski

Co-Founder, CEO

Alexander Haddad

Scientific Co-Founder

Manish Aghi

Co-Founder

Founders

Noriyuki Kasahara

Co-Founder

Sara Collins

Co-Founder

Investors

Andreessen Horowitz
Boutique Venture Partners
King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center
Lexi Ventures
Metaplanet
Multimodal Ventures
Mythos Ventures
Paul Graham
Pioneer Fund
PNOC Foundation
QB3
Singularity Capital
Venn10 Capital
Y Combinator

Work & culture

Mission-driven, research-heavy biotech with a strong academic/UCSF origin story and YC backing; public materials emphasize scientific rigor, translational speed, and a high-unmet-need oncology focus.

Product & market

Differentiators

  • —Converts tumor cells into localized immunotherapy biofactories
  • —Uses a non-lytic replicating retrovirus rather than a directly lytic approach
  • —Delivers an IL-15 superagonist locally to recruit and activate T cells and NK cells
  • —Aims at solid tumors that evade the immune system, starting with glioblastoma
  • —Preclinical work reported durable tumor-specific immunity and long-term survival in mouse models

Technology

Replicating retroviral vector (RRV) platform
IL-15 superagonist payload (RLI)
Non-lytic viral immunotherapy
In vivo tumor editing / tumor biofactory approach
Solid-tumor selective viral delivery

Competitors

Replimune
Vyriad
Imvax
Candel Therapeutics

Scale & contact

Estimated revenue

~$684K annual revenue (third-party estimate; roughly $500K-$1M range)

Estimated monthly visits

1.6K

Traffic estimate as of Jun 2026

info@kopra.bio

Latest news

UCSF spinout Kopra Bio raises $9.1M to test virus therapy in brain cancer

Endpoints News · Jun 2026

Reported Kopra Bio's $9.1M seed round, the planned investigator-initiated trial in China, and the investor group including Y Combinator, Paul Graham, Metaplanet, Multimodal Ventures, Singularity Capital, Pioneer Fund, Mythos Ventures, Venn10 Capital, PNOC Foundation, and angels.

UCSF spinout nets $9.1 M to test virus therapy for brain cancer in China

UCSF Innovation Ventures · Jun 2026

UCSF’s commercialization arm highlighted Kopra Bio's funding, the spinout origin, and the team around Manish Aghi, Noriyuki Kasahara, Alexander Haddad, and Sara Collins.

Non-lytic viral immunotherapy induces long-term glioblastoma survival and tumor-specific immunity without eliciting an antiviral response

Nature Communications · May 2026

The research paper underpinning Kopra Bio describes a non-lytic replicating retrovirus delivering an IL-15 superagonist into glioblastoma cells and shows durable antitumor immunity in mouse models.

Charles River Extends Commitment to Advanced Therapy Developers with Second Incubator Program Cohort

Charles River Laboratories · Dec 2025

Charles River named Kopra Bio to the second cohort of its Cell & Gene Therapy Incubator Program, describing the company as a YC-backed startup developing an in vivo tumor editing platform for glioblastoma.

Kopra Bio Wins $100K Award from QB3 for Proof-of-Concept Development of Breakthrough Viral Therapy for Cancer

QB3 · Jan 2025

QB3 announced a $100K proof-of-concept award to Kopra Bio after a December 2024 pitch session, with CEO Andrew Bartynski and co-founder Alexander Haddad leading the effort.

Alexander Haddad LinkedInAndrew Bartynski LinkedInEndpoints funding storyLinkedIn company pageManish Aghi LinkedInNature Communications paperOfficial websiteQB3 award announcementY Combinator company pageY Combinator launch post
SourcesOfficial websiteLinkedIn company pageY Combinator company pageY Combinator launch postQB3 award announcementNature Communications paperEndpoints funding storyUCSF Innovation storyCharles River incubator announcementProspeo company profile

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