Full Breakdown
Anew Labs Secures $290 million Funding After Spin-Off from ByteDance
By Drooid · · How we work
Core Event
In September 2026, Anew Labs—a Shanghai-based artificial-intelligence drug-discovery company spun off from Chinese internet giant ByteDance—completed an external fundraising round of US $290 million, valuing the firm at US $1.5 billion. ByteDance retained a 56 % ownership stake after the round. The financing was led by HSG (formerly Sequoia China), IDG Capital, and Hillhouse Investment, with 5Y Capital as a co-lead investor. Additional participants included Gaorong Ventures, Primavera Venture Partners, Boyu Capital, strategic investor SBP Group, and the state-backed Shanghai Future Industries Fund.
Background & Context
Anew Labs’ raise comes amid a broader surge of capital flowing into AI-driven drug-discovery startups in China. Venture funding for AI drug discovery topped US $11 billion in 2025, a 23 % increase from the previous year, reflecting investor enthusiasm for domestic challengers to U.S.-based efforts such as Anthropic and Isomorphic Labs. The industry remains in an early stage: no drug fully discovered and approved through AI-led methods has yet reached the market, and firms are positioning AI primarily for efficiency gains in target prediction, molecular generation, and pre-clinical modeling.
Key Figures & Groups
- Liu Kai – Founder and CEO of Anew Labs; former venture investor at IDG Capital and Fire Stone Investment.
- Chris Li – Head of Biology at Anew Labs; presented an IL-17 small-molecule candidate at Immunology2026 in Boston.
- ByteDance – Retains controlling ownership (56 %) and provides strategic backing.
- Investors – HSG, IDG Capital, Hillhouse Investment, 5Y Capital, Gaorong Ventures, Primavera Venture Partners, Boyu Capital, SBP Group, Shanghai Future Industries Fund.
Data & Statistics
- Funding amount: US $290 million (? NT $9.2 billion).
- Post-money valuation: US $1.5 billion (? NT $48 billion).
- Stake retained by ByteDance: 56 %.
- Team size at spin-off (June 2026): ~50 core members.
- Product portfolio: AnewFold, Protenix (open-source AlphaFold 3 reproduction), AnewSampling, AnewOmni, AnewDesign, AnewMind.
- Pipeline: Four drug candidates, including a first-in-class small-molecule inhibitor targeting all three IL-17 dimer types.
Official Statements & Responses
No public comment was received from Anew Labs or ByteDance at the time of reporting.
Verbatim Quotes
- “AI can help us improve R&D productivity and compress the path from research to marketed products. More importantly, AI tools can open up entirely new scientific opportunities, assisting reasoning and understanding of human biology and drug mechanisms.” — Mike Doustdar, CEO of Novo Nordisk “AI can help us improve R&D productivity and compress the path from research to marketed products. More importantly, AI tools can open up entirely new scientific opportunities, assisting reasoning and understanding of human biology and drug mechanisms.” — Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar, novo nordisk CEO
Why It Matters
The infusion of capital positions Anew Labs to expand its high-throughput wet-lab infrastructure and accelerate the translation of AI-generated molecular designs into experimental validation. If successful, its IL-17 inhibitor could address a class of protein-protein interactions traditionally deemed “undruggable,” potentially reshaping therapeutic strategies for autoimmune diseases. The deal also signals confidence from both private venture capital and state-linked investors in China’s capacity to develop homegrown AI-driven biopharma platforms, challenging the dominance of Western AI-enabled drug-discovery initiatives.