Manas AI, an AI-driven drug discovery platform, has launched with $24.6 million in seed funding in a round co-led by General Catalyst and LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman. 

Greylock and other strategic investors participated in the round. 

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman and Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee, an oncologist, researcher and author, founded Manas AI.

WHAT IT DOES 

Manas AI is a drug discovery platform that uses its proprietary AI, biology, generational computational chemistry and advanced molecular docking for drug discovery and development, from identification to clinical trials.

The company says its AI "generates bespoke chemical libraries and utilizes advanced AI filters to identify high-potential therapeutic candidates with paradigm-shifting speed and accuracy."

Through a partnership with Microsoft, Manas AI will use the tech giant's cloud computing platform Azure and its knowledge in AI to identify and develop medicines to accelerate therapeutics for cancer, autoimmune diseases and rare medical conditions. 

Manas AI said it will initially focus on developing treatments for aggressive cancers like prostate cancer, lymphoma and triple-negative breast cancer and eventually move into targeting other diseases. 

The company will use the seed funding to scale its AI platform, expand its global clinical programs, and enhance its drug candidate pipeline. 

"Amidst all the hype in AI-powered drug discovery today, Manas AI is poised to make truly practical, game-changing advances," Peter Lee, president of Microsoft Research, said in a statement. 

"It's especially exciting to integrate world-class AI capabilities with groundbreaking chemistry, biology, and wet-lab expertise as we aim to reshape the future of medicine. Microsoft is proud to partner with Manas to help realize this critically important mission."

MARKET SNAPSHOT

Scientists have been laying the groundwork for AI since the 1950s, though recent technological advancements have accelerated the technology's use in drug discovery. 

Last week, a day after his inauguration for his second term, President Trump, alongside Oracle's chief technology officer Larry Ellison, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son, announced Project Stargate, an at least $500 billion investment to build the infrastructure to power AI construction.

The project includes building "colossal data centers" and campuses nationwide in America, with one of its goals to enhance cancer detection and personalized vaccines. 

Ten buildings are currently under construction in Abilene, Texas, each with an area of half a million square feet. Oracle's CTO said the number will expand to 20 buildings and extend beyond Abilene. 

Son said there will be an immediate $100 billion investment in the project. The goal is to expand that figure to $500 billion within the next four years. 

Another company in the AI drug discovery space is Israel-based AION Labs, which is a partnership between major pharma companies, including AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer, Israel Biotech Fund and Teva Pharmaceuticals, as well as tech company Amazon Web Services and German independent research institute Bio Med X.

AION, founded in 2021, was built under a government tender with the support of the Israeli government via the Israel Innovation Authority. The venture studio currently has seven companies in its portfolio.