Enveda raises $311M for AI drug development from natural sources
Biotech company Enveda has secured $311 million in Series E funding at a $2 billion valuation. The capital will advance its pipeline of AI-discovered, nature-derived drug candidates into clinical trials.
Enveda, a biotech startup utilizing artificial intelligence to discover new drugs from natural sources, has successfully raised $311 million in a Series E funding round, achieving a $2 billion valuation. The round was led by Catalio Capital Management and included participation from Iconiq, among other investors. This funding doubles the valuation the company achieved approximately one year ago.
The core premise of Enveda is to harness the potential of plants and microbes as sources for powerful medicines, diverging from traditional synthetic drug development in laboratories. Viswa Colluru, who previously held a role at Recursion Pharmaceuticals, founded Enveda in 2019 with the aim of accelerating the drug discovery process through AI and other advanced technologies.
While artificial intelligence has yet to yield any FDA-approved pharmaceuticals, Enveda is among the companies progressing AI-discovered candidates into human clinical trials. The startup is currently evaluating several drug candidates in patient studies. These include treatments for severe skin conditions and a compound designed to help patients maintain weight loss after discontinuing GLP-1 medications.