❯ Enveda, which uses AI to find drugs in plants, raises a $311 million Series E as its valuation doubles in a year to $2 billion

the roundEnveda, an AI drug discovery company based in Boulder, Colorado, closed a $311 million Series E at a valuation of about $2 billion, double its valuation a year ago, TechCrunch reported. Catalio Capital Management led the round, with new investors including Durable Capital Partners. It is the company’s third megaround in three years.

what the money is forEnveda uses AI to find drugs in plants and other natural products. It was founded in 2019 by Viswa Colluru, an early Recursion employee. The funding will move three candidates into later-stage trials: ENV-294, a once-daily pill for atopic dermatitis that cut eczema severity by an average of 85% after 42 days in a Phase 1b study; ENV-308, which aims to help patients keep weight off after stopping GLP-1 drugs and was well tolerated in 88 healthy volunteers; and ENV-6946 for inflammatory bowel disease, now in Phase 1.

the next hurdleNone of the three has entered large late-stage trials, and the Phase 1b sample was small. AI drug discovery has plenty of cases where strong early data failed in later trials, and Enveda’s valuation will rest on clinical readouts over the next two to three years.

▪ SIGNALInvestors are paying for clinical data rather than platform stories, and Enveda’s doubled valuation rests on that 85% figure from ENV-294.