A Anew Labs, an AI drug discovery company spun off from ByteDance, raised US$ 290 million in its 1st external funding round. The deal valued the company at US$ 1.5 billion, according to sources heard by Reuters this Wednesday (16).
Even after the spin-off, ByteDance will remain the company's controller, with a 56% stake. The round was led by HSG, formerly Sequoia China, IDG Capital and GL Ventures, with participation from other private and state funds.
Headquartered in Shanghai and with operations also in San Francisco and Singapore, Anew Labs develops AI models focused on drug discovery, including protein structure prediction, biomolecular interaction modeling and antibody development.
The company says it has four programs in its pipeline, two of them targeting the IL-17 family and the IL-4Rreceptor. The capital raised will allow the operation to advance as an independent company, although it will remain under ByteDance's control.
