Connect with us

Science & Technology

Aloe Blacc’s fame means nothing in biotech (and that’s the point) | Equity Podcast

When Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc got COVID despite being vaccinated and boosted, he tried to fund research for a better solution and quickly ran into a hard truth about biotech: you can’t just write a check and move science forward. Regulatory requirements, commercialization plans, and university IP rules mean even well-intentioned philanthropy doesn’t easily translate…

Published

2 months ago

on

When Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc got COVID despite being vaccinated and boosted, he tried to fund research for a better solution and quickly ran into a hard truth about biotech: you can’t just write a check and move science forward. Regulatory requirements, commercialization plans, and university IP rules mean even well-intentioned philanthropy doesn’t easily translate into clinical progress.

Now? Aloe is bootstrapping a cancer drug platform targeting pancreatic cancer and deliberately waiting to raise outside capital until peer-reviewed research can make the case for him.

On this episode of TechCrunch’s Equity podcast, Rebecca Bellan sits down with Aloe Blacc to talk about what happens when a creator steps into biotech, how AI is reshaping both drug discovery and music, and who actually stands to win in each industry’s transformation.

Subscribe to Equity on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Overcast, Spotify and all the casts. You also can follow Equity on X and Threads, at @EquityPod.

Chapters:

00:00 Intro

01:20 From musician to biotech founder

05:15 How COVID led to cancer research and PeptoID

08:00 Funding strategy and waiting for the right moment

11:00 AI’s role in drug discovery

15:20 AI is reshaping the music industry

18:40 Should artists get paid when AI trains on their work?

22:40 Using Suno to prototype music

26:55 Outro

Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Science & Technology

Is There an AI Bubble? Two Top VCs on Valuations and ARR Inflation | StrictlyVC LA 2026

Is AI venture capital in a bubble, or are we just in the steepest growth curve anyone’s ever seen? At StrictlyVC Los Angeles 2026, TechCrunch’s Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos sat down with Chung Xu, Partner at Basis Set, and Carter Reum, co-founder of M13, to cut through the noise. They cover… – Why this cycle is…

Published

8 hours ago

on

June 19, 2026

By

Is AI venture capital in a bubble, or are we just in the steepest growth curve anyone’s ever seen?

At StrictlyVC Los Angeles 2026, TechCrunch’s Editor-in-Chief Connie Loizos sat down with Chung Xu, Partner at Basis Set, and Carter Reum, co-founder of M13, to cut through the noise. They cover…

– Why this cycle is different from cloud and mobile, and why it isn’t
– The ARR inflation problem VCs helped create
– How to find defensible companies when OpenAI and Anthropic are coming for every vertical
– What the SpaceX liquidity wave means for LA’s tech ecosystem

Continue Reading

Science & Technology

He Dropped Out of MIT at 19 to Build America’s Drone Arsenal. It’s Working | StrictlyVC LA 2026

Ethan Thornton started Mach Industries at 16, dropped out of MIT, and is now running six simultaneous defense programs: jet engines, cruise missiles, a surface-to-air missile system, and a new 40-foot VTOL strike aircraft just contracted by the U.S. Navy. At StrictlyVC Los Angeles 2026, TechCrunch Editor in Chief Connie Loizos sat down with the…

Published

8 hours ago

on

June 19, 2026

By

Ethan Thornton started Mach Industries at 16, dropped out of MIT, and is now running six simultaneous defense programs: jet engines, cruise missiles, a surface-to-air missile system, and a new 40-foot VTOL strike aircraft just contracted by the U.S. Navy.

At StrictlyVC Los Angeles 2026, TechCrunch Editor in Chief Connie Loizos sat down with the Mach Industries founder and CEO for a rare on-stage conversation about what it actually takes to build a serious defense hardware company from scratch — and why the U.S. has no choice but to move faster.

Continue Reading

Science & Technology

90% of “American” Fish Gets Processed in China. This Startup Is Changing That | StrictlyVC LA 2026

More than 90 percent of American-caught fish is processed overseas, and often in China, before it comes back to the U.S. Shin K wants to change that with robotics, computer vision, and a vertically integrated supply chain built from scratch. At StrictlyVC Los Angeles 2026, TechCrunch Editor in Chief Connie Loizos sat down with Saif…

Published

8 hours ago

on

June 19, 2026

By

More than 90 percent of American-caught fish is processed overseas, and often in China, before it comes back to the U.S. Shin K wants to change that with robotics, computer vision, and a vertically integrated supply chain built from scratch.

At StrictlyVC Los Angeles 2026, TechCrunch Editor in Chief Connie Loizos sat down with Saif Khawaja, founder and CEO of Shin K, and Delian Asparouhov of Founders Fund to talk about one of the most unexpected bets in venture capital right now.

They cover everything from the Japanese fish-killing technique that became a startup thesis, why American fish is now being imported into Japanese fish markets for the first time ever, and how Founders Fund thinks about contrarian bets in food and agriculture.

Continue Reading

Trending