Key points from article :
Chai Discovery, a biotech startup launched in 2024, has raised $70 million in a Series A funding round, boosting its valuation to $550 million—up sharply from $150 million last year. The company has quickly gained attention in the fast-moving AI sector, developing several AI models, including its latest, Chai-2, which is designed for de novo protein generation. This capability could accelerate the discovery of new drugs and biological therapies by creating entirely novel proteins with tailored properties.
The funding round was led by Menlo Ventures, with participation from a joint partnership with AI firm Anthropic. Other backers include Reed Jobs’ Yosemite Capital, DST Global Partners, SV Angel, Avenir, and DCVC. This follows a $30 million seed round in 2023, which included Thrive Capital and OpenAI—early supporters of Chai’s ambitious AI-biotech vision.
Chai’s founding team brings deep experience from both biotech and tech. Co-founders include Joshua Meier, former chief AI officer at Absci; Jack Dent, a former Stripe engineer; Matthew McPartlon, an ex-VantAI researcher; and Jacques Boitreaud, who led machine learning at French biotech Aqemia. Together, they aim to apply advanced AI tools to one of biotech’s most complex challenges—designing new proteins from scratch.
With fresh capital and heavyweight investors behind it, Chai Discovery is positioning itself as a key player in the race to merge cutting-edge AI with molecular biology, a space that’s attracting massive funding and intense competition. The company’s rapid growth underscores investor belief in AI’s potential to transform drug discovery timelines and reshape the biotech industry.
