The News
Venture firm Dimension is raising a $500 million second fund less than two years after its first, aiming to bridge the gap between the worlds of software and biotech.
The company will use its fund to pick the next winners in the hot space where artificial intelligence is being used to develop lifesaving drugs.
Semafor spoke with Dimension co-founders Zavain Dar and Nan Li about the new fund, and how things are going on the heels of Google DeepMind scientists winning a Noble Prize in chemistry for their AI breakthroughs in protein structures.
“In many ways, the Nobels are the lagging indicator of where innovation is, much like capital markets. And so I think, candidly, our portfolio is 2, 3, 4 clicks ahead,” Li said.
“These are now becoming tools that are in the arsenal of biopharma executives that they’re using on a day-to-day basis. So that’s been a very exciting development even in the last couple of years.”
We are still on the early part of the curve in AI and biotech, and it will be a while before we start to see AI-created drugs cure cancers and other diseases. But the rate of progress makes the field interesting to watch.