China's AI Drug Discovery Startup Anew Labs Raises $290M at $1.5B Valuation

Anew Labs, a Shanghai-based artificial intelligence drug discovery startup and former ByteDance spin-off, has raised US$290 million at a valuation of US$1.5 billion. The funding round received backing from prominent venture capital firms including HSG, IDG Capital, and 5Y Capital, while parent company ByteDance retained a 56 percent stake in the business.

The company develops artificial intelligence models focused on biomolecular structure prediction and design. Its core offerings include an in-house foundation model called AnewFold and Protenix, which is an open-source reproduction of AlphaFold 3, the advanced biomolecular prediction model originally created by Google DeepMind and Isomorphic Labs.

This major fundraising reflects a broader trend of increased capital raising among Chinese companies applying artificial intelligence to pharmaceutical development. Investors are actively supporting local competitors to global players like Anthropic and Isomorphic Labs as artificial intelligence takes on a more prominent role in modern drug design.