Enveda raises $311 million Series E at $2 billion valuation to advance AI-driven drug discovery
Quick Look
- Enveda, a biotech startup using AI to discover drugs from natural sources, has secured $311 million in Series E funding led by Catalio Capital Management, doubling its valuation to $2 billion.
- Founded in 2019 by former Recursion Pharmaceuticals employee Viswa Colluru, the company is testing AI-discovered candidates in human clinical trials, including treatments for severe skin conditions and weight maintenance after GLP-1 therapy.
AI-generated summary
Why It Matters
Enveda was founded in 2019 by Viswa Colluru, an early employee of Recursion Pharmaceuticals, to use AI for discovering medicines from natural sources like plants and microbes rather than synthesizing them in labs.
Enveda, a biotech startup that uses AI to discover new drugs in the natural world, has raised a $311 million Series E at a $2 billion valuation. The fresh funding, which was led by Catalio Capital Management, with participation from Iconiq and others, doubles the valuation Enveda achieved 12 months ago.
The idea behind Enveda is that powerful medicines could be harnessed from plants and microbes, rather than synthesized from scratch in a lab. Viswa Colluru, an early employee of Recursion Pharmaceuticals, founded Enveda in 2019 to speed up the process of discovering these new drugs using AI and other techniques.
While AI hasn’t yet produced any FDA-approved drugs, Enveda is among the wave of companies advancing AI-discovered candidates into human clinical trials. The startup is currently testing several drugs in patients, including one targeting severe skin conditions and another designed to help maintain weight loss after stopping GLP-1s.
What to Watch
AI outlook — possibilities, not facts
Enveda will advance at least one drug candidate to later-stage clinical trials within the next 12 months
Likely · Within months
Open Questions
- What is the timeline for FDA approval of Enveda's drug candidates?
- How much of the $311 million will be allocated to clinical trials versus research and development?
- Which specific skin conditions is Enveda's lead candidate targeting?
