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Warp Sciences has completed a $215 million financing round to build a chemistry research facility in the United States, using AI and robotics to assist pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in developing drugs. The company was founded by Kevin Weil, former head of OpenAI's science initiatives, about six months after he left OpenAI; its co-founders include former White House chief data scientist DJ Patil and former Meta executive Mano Paluri. The company operates as a chemistry contract research organization (CRO), initially focusing on lead compound optimization through analog synthesis. Experimental data will be used to train its AI models, while chemists wear cameras and sensor-equipped gloves to demonstrate actions for robots to learn experimental procedures. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with participation from Premji Invest, Mayfield, IVP, Lux, Conviction, Menlo Ventures, 01 Advisors and others; angel investors include Brian Armstrong, Ion Stoica and Dylan Field. No further developments have been disclosed at this time.
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Warp Sciences raises $215 million to build an AI chemistry research lab
Source:SiliconANGLE
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Oct 23
Zhidx
Former OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil founded Warp Sciences, raising a $215 million Series A at an $865 million valuation
Warp Sciences, an AI scientific research startup founded by former OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil, has emerged from stealth, completing a $215 million Series A funding round at a post-money valuation of $865 million, led by Lightspeed Venture Partners. The company, founded in San Francisco with a team of about 20 people, plans to use AI, robotics, and automated laboratories to help pharmaceutical companies screen molecular variants in drug development, without developing drugs itself. The approach is still at an early stage, and whether it can run stably and improve experimental efficiency remains to be verified.
Analytics India Magazine
Warp Sciences, founded by former OpenAI executives, raises $215 million to build an AI drug research laboratory
Warp Sciences, co-founded by former executives from companies including OpenAI and Meta, has completed a $215 million financing round and will build a chemistry research facility in the United States, using AI and robotics to help pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies develop drugs. The company operates as a chemistry contract research organization (CRO), initially focusing on lead compound optimization through analog synthesis, with chemists guiding experiments and experimental data used to train AI models. The round was led by Lightspeed, with participation from Premji Invest, Mayfield, IVP, Lux, Conviction, Menlo Ventures, 01 Advisors and others; angel investors include Brian Armstrong, Ion Stoica and Dylan Field.
SiliconANGLE
Former OpenAI science lead Kevin Weil founds Warp Sciences, raising $215 million to do medicinal chemistry
Kevin Weil, former head of OpenAI's science program, has founded drug discovery chemistry company Warp Sciences, launching with $215 million in new funding about six months after he left OpenAI. The company is building a chemistry contract research organization in the United States; its first service is analog synthesis for lead compound optimization. Experimental data will be used to train its AI models, and chemists wearing cameras and sensor gloves will demonstrate actions so robots can learn experimental operations. Co-founders include former White House chief data scientist DJ Patil and former Meta executive Mano Paluri. The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.
cnBeta
Former OpenAI science lead founds Warp Sciences, raising $215 million to build robotic drug lab
Former OpenAI science lead Wei Er and three co-founders founded Warp Sciences, raising $215 million and planning to establish a chemistry contract research organization in the United States to provide molecule synthesis and testing services for drug discovery teams. In its first phase, the company will focus on synthesizing analogs for lead compound optimization; clients decide which molecules to study and retain control of their drug programs, and Warp will not develop its own drug pipeline. To train the robots, chemistry researchers will wear camera equipment and sensor gloves to demonstrate and record experimental operations, and the data from each round of experiments will then be used to improve the AI models and subsequent experimental protocols.
Unite.AI
Warp Sciences Raises $215 Million to Build Chemistry Labs with AI and Robots
Warp Sciences has emerged from stealth with $215 million in funding led by Lightspeed, with participation from IVP, Mayfield, Lux, Premji Invest, Menlo Ventures and others, to build a U.S.-based chemistry contract research organization (CRO) that combines chemists, AI and robots. The company is led by former OpenAI Chief Product Officer Kevin Weil and enters through analog synthesis in the lead compound optimization stage, charging per delivered compound and not charging if nothing is produced, and currently works with a small number of design partners. Its long-term vision is to feed experimental data (including failed experiments) back into model training, gradually increasing the degree of laboratory automation.