Enveda, a biotechnology company that combines artificial intelligence with nature's vast chemical diversity, is steadily reshaping how new medicines are discovered and developed. Recent milestones for the company include the appointment of Jason Kim as Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the closing of an oversubscribed $130 million Series C funding round—both signals of Enveda’s momentum in translating nature’s chemistry into breakthrough therapies.

A New Financial Leader

Jason Kim’s arrival as CFO brings more than two decades of biopharmaceutical corporate development and financial leadership to Enveda. Previously, as President, COO, and CFO of Molecular Templates, Mr. Kim managed business development, finance, and operations, raising over $500 million in equity, strategic partnerships, and non-dilutive funding. He was also instrumental in leading Molecular Templates through its public listing and forging collaborations with Takeda, Vertex, and Bristol Myers Squibb.

“We are thrilled to welcome Jason to Enveda,” said Dr. Viswa Colluru, Founder and CEO of Enveda. “His proven track record of driving financial and operational success in the biopharma industry will be key as we scale our operations, expand our pipeline, launch more clinical trials, and seek the right partnerships to advance our deep pipeline medicines closer to patients in need.”

Reflecting on his new position, Mr. Kim commented: “I am excited to join Enveda at such a pivotal time in its journey. The company’s innovative 21st-century approach to leveraging natural products for drug discovery has tremendous potential to address many clinical needs. I look forward to working with the talented team at Enveda to drive financial and strategic initiatives that will enable us to deliver on this promise to patients.”

Insights from SynBioBeta: AI-Driven Discovery

In a recent interview with John Cumbers, Founder and CEO of SynBioBeta, Dr. Colluru elaborated on Enveda’s approach to using mass spectrometry, AI, and historical plant knowledge to discover innovative small molecules. While Enveda draws upon historical wisdom, it does so as one of many inputs in its mass spectrometry and chemistry discovery engine. This integrated process—coupled with the world’s most extensive knowledge graph of historical medicinal plant use—allows Enveda to mine nature’s chemistry in a uniquely systematic and scalable way.

A significant portion of Enveda’s investment—approximately 40–50%—is channeled into platform technology. This hefty commitment to R&D underpins the company’s strategy of advancing multiple programs to early clinical proof points and ultimately building a vertically integrated drug company. Dr. Colluru emphasized the importance of staying nimble in an ever-evolving biotech landscape: “We aim to build an enduring company that touches billions of lives. We will partner wisely and focus on delivering the best medicines possible.”

$130 Million Series C Fuels Platform Expansion and Clinical Pipeline

Strengthening Enveda’s momentum is the recently announced $130 million Series C funding round, led by Kinnevik and FPV, with participation from new and existing investors, including Baillie Gifford, Premji Invest, Lingotto Innovation, Lux Capital, Dimension Capital, True Ventures, Cresset Partners, The Nature Conservancy, and Henry R. Kravis. This round brings Enveda’s total funding to $360 million, fortifying its ability to advance its pipeline of 10 Development Candidates, additional discovery programs, and a state-of-the-art AI platform.

“Some of the world’s greatest pharmaceutical breakthroughs have been derived from just 0.1% of nature’s chemistry,” said Dr. Colluru. “We developed our platform to rapidly expand access to nature’s chemistry to find therapeutics at roughly four times the speed—and it’s already delivering results in the form of a deep and differentiated pipeline.”

The new funding will help Enveda progress multiple drug candidates into key clinical inflection points during 2025 and 2026. The company’s first clinical program, ENV-294—a novel oral agent targeting atopic dermatitis and other inflammatory conditions—entered Phase I trials in late October following U.S. FDA IND clearance.

Building the Future of Drug Discovery

Enveda’s platform has characterized the structure and function of over one million natural compounds in just four years, creating what Dr. Colluru calls “the largest known natural product dataset custom-built for modern drug discovery workflows.” This data-driven approach leverages billions of years of evolutionary intelligence, allowing Enveda’s teams to uncover new mechanisms of action and develop therapies faster than ever before.

The company’s vision goes beyond pure discovery. By investing heavily in platform technology and clinical programs, Enveda seeks to reduce the cost of capital, attract top-tier talent, and collaborate with strategic partners who share its ambition. Dr. Colluru noted, “Ultimately, our goal is to build a company that can make a meaningful difference for patients worldwide—and do so by tapping into life’s chemistry in a way that’s never been done before.”

With substantial commercial opportunities on the horizon and expanded resources to drive progress, Enveda is poised to continue breaking new ground at the intersection of AI and nature. Jason Kim’s addition to the executive team and the latest capital infusion underscore the company’s commitment to discovering and developing next-generation small-molecule therapeutics that address critical needs across the healthcare landscape.