Enveda secures $311M to bring more nature-derived AI drugs into clinical trials

Enveda, a biotech that uses AI to find drug candidates from plants and microbes, raised $311 million in a Series E at a $2 billion valuation. The funding round was led by Catalio Capital Management with participation from Iconiq and others, and the company currently has multiple AI-discovered drugs in human testing, including therapies for severe skin conditions and for maintaining weight loss after stopping GLP-1s.

By AI Newsroom· Reviewed by Pranav, Founder & Editor-in-ChiefPublished about 2 hours agoUpdated about 2 hours ago0 views

Enveda secures $311M to bring more nature-derived AI drugs into clinical trials

Why It Matters

The raise highlights continued investor interest in AI-driven drug discovery and in natural-product-based approaches, and it pushes Enveda further along in translating AI-found candidates into clinical-stage programs. Advancing multiple AI-discovered molecules into human trials marks a notable step for the sector, which has not yet produced FDA-approved drugs from AI discovery alone.

Key Facts

Company: Enveda
Funding round: Series E
Amount raised: $311 million
Post-money valuation: $2 billion
Lead investor: Catalio Capital Management

Enveda, a biotech startup that applies artificial intelligence to discover medicines from natural sources, has closed a $311 million Series E financing at a $2 billion valuation. The round was led by Catalio Capital Management and included participation from Iconiq and other investors. The valuation represents a doubling from what the company achieved about 12 months earlier.

Founded in 2019 by Viswa Colluru, an early employee of Recursion Pharmaceuticals, Enveda focuses on mining plants and microbes for bioactive compounds rather than relying solely on synthetic chemistry. The company combines AI with other experimental techniques to accelerate identification and optimization of natural-product-derived candidates.

Although AI-discovered therapies have not yet secured FDA approval, Enveda is part of a cohort of firms moving such candidates into human testing. The company currently has several drugs in clinical trials, including a program aimed at treating severe dermatological conditions and another intended to help preserve weight loss after patients discontinue GLP-1 medications.

The new capital will support Enveda’s clinical and discovery efforts as it advances these programs. By pairing machine learning with natural-product expertise, the startup seeks to shorten the timeline from initial discovery to human testing, positioning itself within a growing field of AI-enabled drug discovery companies.