Chai Discovery Secures $130M in Series B Funding, Reaching $1.3B Valuation with OpenAI’s Backing
Chai Discovery, a biotech startup backed by OpenAI, recently secured $130 million in a Series B funding round, elevating its valuation to $1.3 billion. This funding round was led by General Catalyst and Oak HC/FT, with participation from several other investors including Menlo Ventures, Dimension, Thrive Capital, and OpenAI, bringing the total funding for Chai to over $225 million.
The firm is part of a burgeoning sector that utilizes artificial intelligence to accelerate drug development. Menlo Ventures, which previously funded Chai’s $70 million Series A round, praised the company for developing foundational models designed for drug discovery that predict molecular interactions, potentially reprogramming them for therapeutic uses.
Chai aims to revolutionize molecular discovery, referring to its mission as creating a "computer-aided design suite" for molecules. The startup’s latest AI model, Chai 2, is reportedly achieving impressive success rates in de novo antibody design, which involves creating wholly new antibodies rather than modifying existing ones. Josh Meier, Chai’s CEO and co-founder, stated that these models can design molecules with desired properties for drug development and can tackle previously challenging targets.
Before founding Chai Discovery in 2024, Meier had a background in machine learning and worked in research and engineering roles at both Facebook and OpenAI.
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