Funding profile · Biopharma drug delivery

Keylika

The only capital on the public record is Y Combinator’s 2022 standard deal. No SEC Form D has been filed under the company’s name, and no later round has been announced.

$500KTotal disclosed to date, Y Combinator pre-seed to seed (2022)
$125KFixed SAFE portion of YC’s 2022 standard deal, for 7 percent
0Form D filings found under “Keylika” on SEC EDGAR
3People on the team as of September 2026, per Crustdata

Data as of September 25, 2026. Company-reported figures are labeled.

Rounds at a glance

When Round Amount Investors Source
Aug 2022 Y Combinator, Summer 2022 batch, pre-seed to seed $500,000 Y Combinator; undisclosed angel investors mentioned by ONdrugDelivery Independent trackers
2022 to 2026 No further round announced None found None named Gap

What the filings show

Nothing, because there is nothing filed. A search of SEC EDGAR’s company database for “Keylika” returns no registrant, and a full text search of Form D filings for the word “Keylika” returns zero hits as of September 25, 2026. That matches the enrichment already on file for this company, which lists no Form D and no EDGAR mentions. The $500,000 figure that appears across independent trackers such as Tracxn and Bounce Watch is not sourced to a filing. It reflects Y Combinator’s publicly known standard deal for the batch Keylika joined: a fixed $125,000 investment for 7 percent equity, plus up to $375,000 on an uncapped, most favored nation simple agreement for future equity. That second figure is a program term, not a confirmed check size for this specific company.

Reading the gap

  1. No Form D does not prove no money changed hands.Companies that raise on SAFEs sometimes delay a Form D, file it under a related entity name not searched here, or raise small enough or narrowly enough that a filing was never required. What can be said is that no such filing has surfaced under the name Keylika.
  2. The disclosed number is a program term, not a confirmed check.Y Combinator’s 2022 standard deal was published for the whole batch, not negotiated per company. Whether Keylika drew the full $500,000, only the fixed $125,000 tranche, or something else entirely has not been independently confirmed.
  3. The headcount has barely moved.Crustdata’s tracked data shows Keylika growing from about one person at founding in 2022 to three by September 2026, a pace that is consistent with a company still running on its original seed money rather than a fresh round.
  4. Milestones that usually need capital are still ahead.Entrepreneur reported in April 2025 that Keylika’s next steps were more preclinical testing, first-in-human studies and FDA submissions, work that typically requires new financing to reach. No press release naming a new investor or round has been found since.
  5. No federal grant money appears either.Unlike biotech peers that lean on NIH or NSF small business awards to stretch a seed round, no award under Keylika’s name turned up in the federal grant records reviewed for this profile.

Commercial signals

Signal Detail Source type
Regulatory No FDA filing of any kind found under Keylika’s name. Not found
Preclinical progress Rat proof-of-concept, then a four-animal-per-group hamster pharmacokinetic study for a buccal patch, both reported by the founders themselves. Company-stated
Accelerator Accepted into Bakar Labs, a UC Berkeley biotech incubator, reported April 2025. Independent
Partnerships Company told Entrepreneur it is exploring partnerships with pharma companies. None named. Company-stated
Team size Three people as of September 2026, per Crustdata’s tracked headcount. Independent tracker

What to watch

  • A first Form D, which would confirm whether new money has come in since 2022.
  • An announced Series A or seed extension tied to first-in-human study plans.
  • A named pharma partner for the buccal delivery platform.
  • Any federal grant award, which would extend the runway without diluting the small existing team.

The Keylika story on Healthcare DiscoveryHealthcare Discovery

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  • Spect: Shared investor: Independent Partners. A smartphone retinal camera, a coach on the line guiding the shot, an ophthalmologist grading the picture afterward
  • Endpoint Health: Also in Therapeutics. A Palo Alto company that set out to rescue sepsis drugs the field had given up on, by finding the patients they actually help

Sources

  1. Public recordEDGAR company and full text search for “Keylika,” no filings foundSEC EDGAR · searched Sep 25, 2026
  2. Independent trackerKeylika, Funding Rounds & List of InvestorsTracxn · accessed 2026
  3. Independent trackerKeylika, Funding, Investors & SignalsBounce Watch · accessed 2026
  4. Independent trackerKeylika, Headcount, Funding & Open JobsCrustdata · accessed Sep 2026
  5. IndependentKeylika: Redefining the Standard of Care for Iron Deficiency Anemia, company profileY Combinator · accessed Sep 25, 2026
  6. CompanyTackling Iron-Deficiency Anaemia: a Leap Forward with a Revolutionary Buccal PatchONdrugDelivery, Buddhadev Chaudhuri and Frederik Ceyssens · May/Jun 2024
  7. IndependentKeylika Develops World’s First Buccal Patch for Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA)Entrepreneur Asia Pacific, Becky Dias · Apr 29, 2025

Compiled from SEC and other public records and published reports as of September 25, 2026. Form D notices report offerings under Regulation D; no such filing was found for this company under the name reviewed. Healthcare Venture Capital Fund holds no position in Keylika. This page is not an offer to sell or a recommendation to buy any security.