This OpenAI-backed biotech company has raised $130M at $1.3B valuation
What's the story
Chai Discovery, a biotech start-up backed by OpenAI, has raised $130 million in a Series B funding round at a $1.3 billion valuation. The round was led by General Catalyst and Oak HC/FT, with participation from Menlo Ventures, Dimension, Thrive Capital, Neo, Yosemite venture fund, and Lachy Groom. New investors Glade Brook and Emerson Collective also took part in the funding round. With this latest investment, Chai Discovery's total funding has exceeded $225 million.
AI in biotech
Chai Discovery's innovative approach to drug development
Chai Discovery is part of a growing trend that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up drug development. The company's mission is to create a "computer-aided design suite" for molecules. In 2024, they launched the Chai 1 AI model and have now introduced Chai 2, their latest iteration. This new model has shown significant improvements in success rates over other methods for de novo antibody design, or creating custom antibodies from scratch.
Advanced technology
Chai 2's capabilities and CEO's background
Chai 2 can design molecules with properties desired from actual drugs, and address challenging targets that were previously unattainable. To note, Josh Meier, the co-founder and CEO of Chai Discovery, has a machine learning background. He has worked in research and engineering at Facebook as well as OpenAI before starting this innovative biotech company in 2024.