Demetri Maxim

Demetri is the co-founder and CEO of Nephrogen, a biotech spinout from Stanford using AI and high-throughput screening to improve gene delivery to enable curative genetic therapies for deadly diseases. Nephrogen won second place at TechCrunch Disrupt Battlefield in 2025. Nephrogen’s NeFIND™ discovery platform screens on the order of 10^17 variants to identify new gene delivery vehicles and cell-type-specific promoters capable of reaching the kidney and pancreas. Kidney and pancreatic diseases affect millions of patients and most have no disease-modifying treatment options. Under Demetri’s leadership, Nephrogen has raised financing from leading investors such as Y Combinator, Pillar VC, and Techstars, and secured sponsored research funding from seven global pharmaceutical companies, including Bayer, Novartis, and Bristol Myers Squibb. Before coming into biotech, Demetri was a professional alpine ski racer who competed at the 2021 FIS World Alpine Ski Championships. He completed his undergraduate and graduate coursework at Stanford University, where he received the Firestone Medal for having one of the top two research theses across the entire Department of Biology in 2020.