Case Study: Antiverse

Case studies

Collaboration type: One-off PR campaign

Campaign date: February-March 2026

Vertical: Techbio (AI Drug Discovery) / Biotech

Startup HQ: Cardiff, UK 🇬🇧 (with offices in Boston, USA)

Campaign scope: Series A announcement ($9.3M) + Cystic Fibrosis Foundation research agreement

About Antiverse

Antiverse is a Cardiff-based AI-driven techbio company on a mission to develop therapeutic antibodies for the most challenging disease targets in modern medicine, including those once considered undruggable.

Co-founded in 2017 by Murat Tunaboylu (CEO) and Ben Holland (CTO), who met at Deep Science Ventures’ startup accelerator and bonded immediately over shared ideas around biology and machine learning. Antiverse has built a proprietary platform that combines generative AI with in-house wet laboratory capabilities. Its signature approach, the lab-in-the-loop model, enables a rapid feedback cycle between computational antibody design and physical testing.

The company’s primary focus is G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and ion channels: protein families that play critical roles in cancer, neurological disorders, and rare diseases, but that have historically resisted conventional antibody discovery methods. Despite their biological importance, fewer than ten FDA-approved therapeutic antibodies target GPCRs, a gap Antiverse is positioned to close.

By the time of the Series A, Antiverse had built a team of 25 and secured partnerships with some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies. It had also made significant scientific progress in developing antibodies using its unique methodology.

Objectives

Black Unicorn PR was brought in tasked with leading communications around Antiverse’s Series A. The campaign had three primary goals:

Announce the $9.3M Series A funding round with maximum reach and credibility across tech, biotech, and startup/business media
Simultaneously announce a landmark research agreement with the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, combining the two stories into a single, more powerful narrative
Position Antiverse compellingly to its two most critical stakeholder audiences: life science investors (as a precursor to a future Series B) and senior decision-makers at top-20 pharmaceutical companies

Strategic Approach

We combined the Series A news with the US-based Cystic Fibrosis Foundation partnership into a single announcement. The CF Foundation relationship was key for the US side of the outreach. As well as adding mission weight, it demonstrated how Antiverse’s technology was being trusted to tackle diseases with no existing solutions. And for journalists, it also provides a human-interest angle alongside the funding story.

We positioned Antiverse as a leading AI antibody design company with its own wet labs, proprietary cell lines, and a dual-track strategy of pharma partnerships and internal pipeline development. In a field increasingly dominated by well-funded US competitors, that framing gave every piece of coverage a clear differentiation hook.

Results

The announcement generated widespread international coverage across tech, biotech, pharma, financial, and regional media. And of course, startup, VC and business. Our Muck Rack report logged 70+ pieces of coverage with a combined UVM (unique visitors per month) of over 251 million.

Examples of coverage:

Tech and biotech media

Axios Pro Biotech Deals: coverage by Katherine Davis, the outlet’s specialist biotech reporter
Tech.eu
Tech Funding News
The Next Web (TNW)
BioSpace
BioXconomy

Specialist pharma and life sciences media

Financial and business media

Fortune Term Sheet
Axios Pro Rata

Welsh and UK regional media

Given the company’s Cardiff roots and Development Bank of Wales backing, we ensured strong regional coverage that served both local stakeholder relations and Google-indexed profile building:

International and Czech media

Antiverse’s Prague office and Soulmates’ Czech roots made Central European coverage both relevant and achievable. This side was led by a Czech PR partner.

Newsletters

Sifted Daily: included in the flagship European startup newsletter
Axios Pro Rata: included in the daily VC and deals digest
Fortune Term Sheet: financial audience mention

Why It Worked

The same round, combined with a research agreement from the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation to tackle a target scientists have failed on for decades, was a significantly compelling story. It gave journalists a mission-driven angle beyond the valuation, and gave pharma readers a concrete reason to pay attention. Our job was to maximise it by going through the desired messaging and positioning with the founders, and planning for the best possible execution and outcomes.

The science needed translating without being dumbed down. Antiverse’s technology is genuinely novel, and the coverage reflected that. Finally, working with partners who are experts in their niche and geography (US, biotech) was a good way to ensure maximum exposure in the most relevant channels.

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