Breakout Ventures closes $114M Fund III to back AI-powered science startups
What's the deal? San Francisco-based Breakout Ventures has closed its third fund at $114 million, targeting seed-stage startups that use AI to commercialise breakthroughs in biology and chemistry.
Returning backers include Cortes CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, S-Cubed CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, The Kraft GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Pinegrove Venture PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. New limited partners include JIMCODealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the global investment arm of the Jameel family, and Korea Omega Investment CorporationDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The fund is already deploying capital, with three initial seed investments made.
Why now? Breakout is riding a wave of momentum from its previous funds. Fund II portfolio company Surf BioDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → was recently acquired by Halozyme for up to $400 million — a notable exit given that Breakout was the lead investor on the company's only institutional round.
Another Fund II company, Noetik, struck a $50 million upfront partnership with GSK for its cancer AI platform. The firm says AI is now dramatically compressing timelines and cost curves in scientific discovery, making the seed stage more attractive than ever.
The signal: Breakout's thesis sits at the intersection of two of venture capital's hottest themes — AI and biotech — and Fund III doubles down on it.
The portfolio gives a flavour of where the firm sees opportunity: Reach IndustriesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → is building computer vision tools for regulated industries; Fund II holdovers include Phantom NeuroDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which is developing neural interfaces for prosthetic limb control without brain surgery, and ZymoChemDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, which makes fossil-free polymers for companies such as Lululemon. The common thread is using AI to do in months what would otherwise take years in the lab.
The fund also signals growing interest from non-traditional LPs in deep science VC. The addition of a Saudi family office and a Korean institutional investor alongside returning US backers suggests the asset class is attracting global capital as the commercial potential of AI-accelerated science becomes harder to ignore.
Sources:
Business Wire
The Next Web
Morningstar
BioSpace
Fierce Biotech
Endpoints News
Tech Funding News
Image credit:
Breakout Ventures
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