OpenAI-backed biotech company Chai Discovery raises $130M Series B at $1.3B valuation

Chai Discovery, a biotech startup backed by OpenAI, he announced $130 million Series B round at a price of $1.3 billion on Monday.

The rounds were led by General Catalyst and Oak HC/FT, the company said. Other participants include Menlo Ventures, OpenAI, Dimension, Thrive Capital, Neo, Yosemite venture fund, Lachy Groom, SV Angel, and new investors Glade Brook and Emerson Collective. The company’s total revenue now exceeds $225 million.

The company is one growing companies which sees AI as a fast track to drug development. In August, Menlo Ventures he announced was leading Chai’s $70 million Series A round. The investor described Chai as a catalyst that builds the foundations of medicine, specifically predicting interactions between natural molecules so they can be reengineered for healing.

Chai says his ambition is to “build a ‘computer aided machine'” for molecules. Last year, the beginning he announced The Chai 1 AI version and now offering Chai 2, is the latest version. The company says Chai 2 is more efficient than other methods of de novo antibody production, meaning making antibodies from scratch, rather than modifying existing ones.

“Our latest prototypes can create molecules with the properties we want from real medicine, and address previously unreached challenges,” Josh Meier, Chai’s co-founder and CEO said in a prepared statement.

Previously, Meier, who has a background in machine learning, worked in research and engineering at Facebook and, before that, worked at OpenAI, according to his LinkedIn. Chai Discovery was launched in 2024, records history.