Proximal Ventures closes $27.5M debut fund for AI in pharma
What's the deal? Proximal VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has closed its oversubscribed debut Fund I at $27.5 million. Backers include SignalFire, Kleiner Perkins, Domino Lane, Bertelsmann Healthcare InvestmentsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, PagsGroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Dimension co-founders Nan Li and Zavain Dar.
Who's behind it? Founder and managing partner Sahir Raoof was previously a partner at SignalFire. Before that he spent a decade on both sides of the pharma deal table at J.P. Morgan, Flatiron Health — acquired by Roche — and Iterative Health.
What's the endgame? Proximal will deploy capital to improve what happens after a drug is discovered: clinical trials, manufacturing, and commercialization. That work still costs pharma hundreds of billions a year in outsourcing.
Early bets include Chronicle Bio, an AI-driven biobanking startup co-founded by a former OpenAI executive to find treatments for long COVID, POTS, and ME/CFS.
In Raoof's words: "Proximal is supporting founders across that entire journey, from computational drug discovery through development and commercialization." He added that "some of the greatest opportunities lie in areas that have historically attracted less venture investment."
The signal: Investors are pouring money into AI across the drug pipeline, but much of it chases discovery. Proximal's thesis bets on the less-crowded, capital-heavy stages that follow — where the real cost of getting medicines to patients still sits.
Read more: proximal.vc
Image credit: NavyMedicine
