The facts
Chai Discovery at a glance.
Read Oct 20, 2026. Valuations and amounts are copied as each source states them; a figure that is only reported (talks, or people familiar with the deal) is labeled as reported.
- Kind of company
- Drug discovery and biologyAI that designs drugs, proteins and antibodies.
- Based in
- United States
- Founded
- 2024GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), Dec 16, 2025
- Last closed-round valuation
- $3.8B$3.8 billion (SiliconANGLE, Kyt Dotson, Jul 14, 2026)
- What it has shipped
- Has a model or API
Founders
- Joshua Meier: CEO; researcher at OpenAI during GPT-1 and GPT-2, co-led ESM1 at Meta, then chief AI officer at Absci (GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), Dec 16, 2025)
- Matthew McPartlon: previously tech lead for de novo antibody design modeling at Absci (GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), Dec 16, 2025)
- Jacques Boitreaud: previously led AI at Aqemia (GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), Dec 16, 2025)
- Jack Dent: president; previously led product and engineering teams at Stripe (GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News), Dec 16, 2025)
Raised a $400M Series C at a $3.8B valuation; SiliconANGLE reports a Pfizer licensing deal for Chai-3, a customer agreement with Eli Lilly and a collaboration with Novartis. Jul 14, 2026
SiliconANGLE, Kyt Dotson, Jul 14, 2026
What it has built
Shipped, or not yet.
“Has a model or API” is what our search found: something the public can use or buy, a model or API, research only, or nothing public.
2 rounds
Funding, as reported.
Every round we found, with the amount, valuation and investors as the source states them.
| When | Round | Amount | Valuation | Investors named | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 16, 2025 | Series B | $130 million | $1.3 billion | Oak HC/FT (co-lead), General Catalyst (co-lead), Thrive Capital, OpenAI, Emerson Collective | GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News) |
| Jul 14, 2026 | Series C | $400 million | $3.8 billion | Index Ventures (lead), Kleiner Perkins, Sequoia Capital, Dimension, Bain Capital Ventures, Battery Ventures, Baillie Gifford, BDT & MSD, Sapphire Ventures, Avra Capital, Thrive Capital, OpenAI, Oak HC/FT, Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst | SiliconANGLE, Kyt Dotson |
Our note
Worth knowing.
Our note: Chai-2 results (16% binding rate across 52 targets) are company-reported in a technical report and bioRxiv preprint, not peer-reviewed as of the pages fetched. No clinical trial registry entry; Chai licenses models rather than running its own clinical pipeline on the pages fetched. Founding year inferred from GEN saying Meier co-founded it 'last year' (article dated Dec 2025). The Pharma Letter (2026-07-15) confirms amount, valuation and lead.
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