🤖 Lila Sciences secures $235M to scale AI 'Science Factories'

AI platform developer Lila Sciences raised $235M in Series A funding to expand its autonomous 'Science Factories,' accelerating drug discovery workflows with large-scale reinforcement learning.

Why It Matters To Oncology

▪ Lila's AI can rapidly design and validate nucleic acid- and protein-based therapies, potentially transforming oncology drug discovery timelines.

▪ The technology enables high-throughput, iterative hypothesis testingkey for advancing cancer therapeutics and diagnostics.

The Financials

▪ $235M Series A, co-led by Braidwell and Collective Global, values Lila at ~$1.23B.

▪ Follows a $200M seed round in March; investors include Flagship Pioneering, General Catalyst, and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

What They're Saying

▪ CEO Geoff von Maltzahn: Lila's 'AI Science Factories' are "engines" accelerating scientific discoveryhundreds of thousands of experiments and thousands of discoveries to date.

▪ AI aims to close the loop between computational reasoning and real-world validation at unprecedented scale.

What's Next

▪ Funds will support hiring and new AI Science Factory sites in Boston, San Francisco, and London.

▪ Continued development of models with 'higher levels of scientific intelligence' to further compress discovery cycles in oncology and beyond.