Chai Discovery

Rounds and research, on one timeline

1. 2026-07-14Series C
   Round

   $400M$3.8B · stated by company

   For: compute, data and research behind its models; product development; bringing its models to more scientists

   Models and platformData generationCommercial roll-out

   Fierce Biotech puts total funding above $600M after this round. The release says the round was led by Index Ventures alongside Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital and Dimension, so only Index is recorded as lead; it names the followers on as existing backers. The use is from Chai's own post on the round (chaidiscovery.com/news/series-c).

   Lead · Index Ventures ✓Kleiner PerkinsSequoia Capital ✓DimensionBain Capital Ventures ✓Battery Ventures ✓Baillie GiffordBDT & MSDSapphire Ventures ✓Avra CapitalExisting investor · Thrive CapitalExisting investor · OpenAIExisting investor · Oak HC/FT ✓Existing investor · Menlo Ventures ✓Existing investor · General Catalyst ✓Existing investor · Glade BrookExisting investor · Avenir ✓Existing investor · Lachy GroomExisting investor · Yosemite

   On the deal: Ilya Fushman (Partner, Kleiner Perkins); Lachy Groom (Existing investor); Marcus Ryu (General Partner, Battery Ventures); Nina Achadjian (Partner, Index Ventures); Pat Grady (Partner, Sequoia Capital); Zavain Dar (Founder, Dimension)

   The investor's own page says · Bain Capital Ventures: 2026, Growth

   The investor's own page says · Battery Ventures: 2026, Growth

   The investor's own page says · Sapphire Ventures: Series C ($400M)

   The investor's own page says · Sequoia Capital: 2026

   Announced by the company · finance.yahoo.com ↗On the timeline →

2. 2025-12-15Series B
   Round

   $130M$1.3B · stated by company

   For: develop its 'computer-aided design suite' for molecules

   Models and platform

   Valuation is in the company's release as summarised by Fierce and repeated in Chai's own Jan 2026 Lilly release. Full investor list from Pulse 2.0, restating the Business Wire release (https://pulse2.com/chai-discovery-130-million-series-b-at-1-3-billion-valuation-raised-to-advance-ai-driven-molecular-design/).

   Co-lead · Oak HC/FT ✓Co-lead · General Catalyst ✓Menlo Ventures ✓OpenAIThrive CapitalDimensionGlade BrookEmerson CollectiveLachy GroomYosemiteNeoSV Angel ✓

   The investor's own page says · General Catalyst: Series B (co-lead)

   By this date the record held 3 research entries, highest level 4

   Announced by the company · fiercebiotech.com ↗

3. 2025-11-19
   Research

   Level 4 · Tested in the physical world

   Chai Discovery reports Chai-2 designing full-length antibodies that pass developability screens, and binders to six GPCRs

   Binding alone does not make a drug; this tests whether the designs also look manufacturable and hit the intended spot. Every assay was Chai's own, in a preprint, and developability flags are screening thresholds, not evidence a molecule will work in people.

   Timeline entry →chaidiscovery.com ↗

4. 2025-08-06Series A
   Round

   $70M

   For: develop the platform, take on new targets, onboard select partners

   Models and platformCommercial roll-out

   Company put total capital at $100M after this round. Byers Capital is confirmed by its own site (Series A); Anthropic is cross-checked against investor-database records; not named in the sources read.

   Lead · Menlo Ventures (incl. Anthology Fund with Anthropic) ✓YosemiteDST Global PartnersAvenir ✓DCVC ✓SV Angel ✓Byers Capital ✓AnthropicExisting investor · Thrive CapitalExisting investor · OpenAIExisting investor · DimensionExisting investor · NeoExisting investor · Lachy GroomExisting investor · Fred Ehrsam

   On the deal: Fred Ehrsam (Existing investor); Greg Yap (Partner, Menlo Ventures (incl. Anthology Fund with Anthropic)); Lachy Groom (Existing investor)

   The investor's own page says · Byers Capital: Chai Discovery - Series A

   The investor's own page says · DCVC: 2025

   By this date the record held 2 research entries, highest level 4

   Announced by the company · finance.yahoo.com ↗

5. 2025-07-06
   Research

   Level 4 · Tested in the physical world

   Chai Discovery's Chai-2 preprint reports a 16% hit rate designing antibodies from scratch, across 52 targets

   If it holds, antibody design needs a few dozen wet-lab tests, not thousands. The tests were Chai's own, on a preprint, and the entry is read from the abstract only.

   Timeline entry →doi.org ↗

6. 2024-09-09
   Research

   Level 2 · Computed

   Chai Discovery releases Chai-1, a structure-prediction model with open weights that companies may use

   At release AlphaFold 3 was only a web server, so this gave companies a model of that class to run and build on. The scores are on public benchmarks Chai ran itself: they show the model computes well, not that its predictions hold up in a lab.

   Timeline entry →chaidiscovery.com ↗

7. 2024-09-09Seed
   Round

   nearly $30 million$150M · stated by company, to Bloomberg

   For: develop foundation models for molecular structure

   Models and platform

   Bloomberg says the deal values Chai at $150M, 'it said'; the later Series A release calls it a $30M seed led by Thrive, OpenAI and Dimension. Nitesh Banta is cross-checked against investor-database records; not named in the sources read.

   Lead · Thrive CapitalOpenAIDimension CapitalNitesh Banta

   By this date the record held 1 research entry, highest level 2

   Announced by the company · news.bloomberglaw.com ↗

Research entries are the timeline's graded entries that name this company. A level grades one claim, not the company, and a blank can mean the record has not caught up rather than that nothing was published.

See these rounds in the table →