Major VC Rounds For AI Companies in Drug Discovery and Biotech in 2022

Despite the economic situation and political climate in 2022, such fields as drug discovery and biotech keep evolving and bringing vital solutions to challenges of the time drawing the attention of venture capitalists (VCs). In this piece let's focus specifically on artificial intelligence (AI)-driven biotech and drug discovery companies which managed to attract investors and raise notable rounds in 2022.

MegaRobo

Mid-June Goldman Sachs took an unusual turn, leading a $300 M round for a Beijing-based startup MegaRobo Technologies known for its muscle power on CRISPR gene editing while promising to combine the power of artificial intelligence and robotics to redefine lab efficiency in creating new drugs with clients. According to CSO at MegaRobo Wang Chengzhi stated that "this financing round will help MegaRobo further strengthen its closed-loop solutions in ‘Automation + Artificial Intelligence + Life Sciences,’ and build the next-generation life sciences infrastructure featuring intelligent automation.”

ConcertAI

In March 2022 ConcerAI, the leading enterprise in AI and real-world data (RWD) solutions for life sciences and healthcare, announced the close of its $150 M Series C investment from Sixth Street at a $1.9 B valuation. Over the last 3 years, the company has expanded its customer base and partnerships to more than 45 life sciences companies and contract research organizations (CROs) with SaaS solutions across the product lifecycle: supporting approximately 40 new product launches, improving time on therapy by 10%, and reducing time for study design and projected clinical trial execution times up to 25%.

Viz.ai

An Israeli startup Viz.ai raised $100 M at $1.2 B valuation becoming the country’s newest unicorn. The company develops an AI-powered disease detection and care coordination platform which is already in use in over 1,000 hospitals, serving millions of patients. Over the past year, Viz.ai launched AI-driven solutions for aortic disease, pulmonary embolism, and cerebral aneurysms. The Israeli firm dominated the stroke detection and triage market with the de novo FDA clearance of its stroke module and was the first AI software to receive approval from CMS for NTAP (New Technology Add-on Payment).