Pharmaceutical business development teams have secured a new artificial intelligence ally as Metly completes a €520,000 oversubscribed pre-seed funding round. The Barcelona-based startup aims to transform how drug companies identify and execute licensing and manufacturing partnerships through automated intelligence systems.
Investment firm Encomenda led the financing round, joined by Ona Capital, Dozen Investments, and notable angel investors including Roberto Urbez, former Vice President for Spain and Portugal at Bristol Myers Squibb. The backing signals growing investor confidence in AI applications for pharmaceutical business processes.
Automating Partnership Discovery
Metly’s platform addresses inefficiencies in pharmaceutical partnership identification, a process that traditionally relies on industry conferences, personal networks, and manual research methods. The company’s AI agents continuously analyze public and proprietary datasets to surface licensing and manufacturing opportunities tailored to each client’s strategic requirements.
Co-founder Lydia Taranilla highlighted the technology gap facing business development professionals: “Business development teams sit at the heart of pharma strategy. They shape portfolios, drive partnerships, and enable long-term growth, but they’ve been underserved by technology for years“
The platform consolidates opportunity assessment and partner outreach into a single interface, offering pharmaceutical companies an alternative to spreadsheet-based tracking and cold email campaigns.
Market Presence and Data Scale
Metly currently maintains a database spanning more than 35,000 licensed products sourced from 550 global licensing entities. This comprehensive repository provides pharmaceutical companies with visibility across international markets and therapeutic areas.
The startup’s integrated outreach tools enable direct communication with potential partners through the platform, streamlining negotiations that previously required multiple touchpoints and intermediaries.
Geographic Expansion Strategy
International growth features prominently in Metly’s deployment of the fresh capital. The company has initiated expansion efforts targeting the United States and Chinese pharmaceutical markets, both significant centres for licensing activity and manufacturing partnerships.
Beyond geographic reach, the funding will support enhancements to Metly’s AI technology infrastructure and recruitment across technical and commercial functions. These investments reflect the company’s focus on scaling both technological capabilities and market penetration.
“We’re giving BD teams the speed, visibility, and intelligence they need to act faster and smarter in an increasingly complex market.” ~ Lydia Taranilla, co-founder.
The pharmaceutical industry’s growing reliance on external partnerships for drug development and market access creates sustained demand for efficient partnership identification tools. Metly’s approach combines comprehensive data coverage with artificial intelligence to address these operational requirements in an established sector undergoing digital transformation.