Rivercell is a Paris-based biotechnology and AI company building a proprietary data platform and an AI Virtual Cell (AIVC) — a world model designed to predict how human cells respond to drugs and genetic changes. The company was founded in summer 2025 by Yann Fleureau (École Polytechnique/UC Berkeley), the serial entrepreneur who previously co-founded and led AI cardiac diagnostics company Cardiologs through a nine-figure acquisition by Philips in 2021. Eric Durand joined as co-founder and CSO in 2026, bringing experience as Director of Oncology Data Science at Novartis and Chief Data Science Officer at Owkin, and as a co-founder of biology foundation-model company Bioptimus.

Rivercell's platform addresses four critical gaps in existing cellular datasets: observational-only experiments (no interventions tested), monomodal readouts (single measurement type), static snapshots (single timepoints), and context-poor designs (too few cell types and environments). The company's solution is a programmable, automated wet lab that generates perturbational, multimodal, longitudinal, and context-diverse single-cell data at scale. Live-cell imaging is linked to endpoint gene expression in the same cells over time, creating a rich substrate for training its world model.

The model is designed to be indication-agnostic — learning the underlying rules of how cells respond rather than features of a single disease — so it can power drug discovery across any cell-behavior-driven pathology. The platform operates as a lab-in-the-loop system: the model selects the next experiments, the platform runs them, and results continuously improve predictions. Rivercell's scientific advisory board includes Dr. Charlotte Bunne (EPFL) and Prof. Fabian Theis (Helmholtz Munich), with angel backing from founders and executives at Twist Bioscience, DNA Script, Agilent, and Abivax/Ipsen.