Envéda Biosciences Inc.a biotechnology company that leverages artificial intelligence to develop new medicines, today announced that it has raised $130 million in new funding to deliver clinical catalysts in several programs with strong commercial opportunities.

Founded in 2019, Enveda aims to revolutionize drug discovery by harnessing the untapped potential of natural compounds. The company leverages AI and advanced analytics to decode nature’s complex chemistry – the chemical compounds found in plants, microbes and other natural resources – to develop new therapies for unmet medical needs. Enveda says the approach addresses what it sees as the unexplored diversity of natural substances, estimated at 99.9% of all potential chemical entities.

The core of Enveda’s platform is its integration of AI-driven models and metabolomics, which enable the rapid analysis of mass spectrometry data from natural samples. Unlike traditional methods that require the isolation of individual compounds, Enveda’s technology identifies chemical structures and their biological activities directly from complex mixtures, a method that accelerates the discovery process and increases the likelihood of discovering unique compounds with therapeutic potential.

Enveda is also building a comprehensive chemical map of the natural world to guide its drug discovery efforts. The company systematically catalogs the relationships between chemical structures and biological functions to create a resource that can be used to predict and design innovative treatments. The map serves as the basis for identifying drug candidates with increased accuracy and efficiency.

Additionally, Enveda is rapidly advancing its drug candidates toward clinical development. Its first investigational new drug, ENV-294, targets inflammatory conditions such as atopic dermatitis. The compound has advanced to Phase I clinical trials, demonstrating the Company’s ability to move quickly from discovery to therapeutic development.

Kinnevik AB and FPV led the Series C round, with participation from new and existing investors Baillie Gifford & Co., Premji Invest Pte. Ltd., Lingotto Innovation Management, Lux Capital Management, Dimension Capital Management, True Ventures Management, Cresset Partners, The Nature Conservancy and Henry R. Kravis.

“We developed our platform to rapidly expand access to natural chemistry to find therapeutic treatments approximately four times faster – and it is already delivering results in the form of a deep and differentiated pipeline,” said founder and managing director Viswa Colluru in a statement. “This funding will help us advance several candidates to exciting clinical catalysts over the next year, confirming our guiding vision that life chemistry is an excellent source of new medicines.

Including the new funding, Enveda has raised $360 million to date, including a $55 million round. in June.

Image: Envéda