Breakout Ventures announced the close of its $114 million Fund III, expanding the venture firm’s efforts to back early-stage companies working at the intersection of science, technology, and artificial intelligence. The San Francisco-based firm said the new fund will continue its strategy of investing in founder-led startups translating complex scientific innovation into scalable businesses.
The fund received support from returning investors, including Cortes Capital, S-Cubed Capital, The Kraft Group, Pinegrove Venture Partners, and an affiliate of LH Capital. New limited partners joining the fund include JIMCO, the investment arm of the Jameel family, and Korea Omega Investment Corporation.
Breakout Ventures, which launched in 2016, focuses on seed-stage companies tackling major challenges across biology, chemistry, and advanced technologies. The firm says the accelerating use of AI in scientific research is dramatically increasing the pace and efficiency of discovery, helping founders move innovations from the lab to commercialization more quickly.
The firm’s prior funds have already produced several notable companies. Portfolio company Cytovale developed the first FDA-cleared AI-enabled rapid sepsis diagnostic used in emergency departments across the United States. Another portfolio company, Twelve, manufactures sustainable aviation fuel created from captured carbon dioxide.
Fund II, which launched in 2021, has also generated significant momentum. One example is Surf Bio, which was recently acquired by Halozyme for up to $400 million, producing a major return for Breakout Ventures as the lead investor in the company’s only institutional funding round.
Another portfolio company, Noetik, is developing foundation models for human biology by training self-supervised AI systems on one of the world’s largest multimodal tumor datasets. The company recently secured a $50 million upfront partnership with pharmaceutical giant GSK to advance its AI-driven cancer research platform.
Breakout has also backed Phantom Neuro, which is building neural interface technology that enables patients to control prosthetic limbs in real time without requiring brain surgery. The company has received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation and has launched a patient registry as it moves toward broader clinical adoption.
Another investment, ZymoChem, is focused on replacing petrochemical materials with sustainable polymers created through advanced biological processes. The company is working with partners such as Lululemon to scale fossil-free chemistry that competes on cost, carbon footprint, and performance.
Breakout Ventures has already begun deploying capital from Fund III, with several seed investments underway. One of the first companies funded through the new vehicle is Reach Industries, a startup developing agentic computer vision systems designed to provide visual intelligence for highly regulated environments.
The firm also disclosed investments in two stealth-mode companies. One is led by industry veterans building technology to accelerate the commercial distribution of scientific innovations, while the other is a University of Chicago spinout focused on accelerating functional small molecule discovery through computational chemistry.
In conjunction with the fund launch, Breakout Ventures also promoted investor Nima Ronaghi, PhD, to partner, highlighting his contributions to the firm’s performance and investment platform.
KEY QUOTES
“We’ve spent the last decade investing early in founding teams using technology to harness the power of science to architect the future. As AI is unleashed on the magnitudes of data in biology and chemistry, we are experiencing incredible speed, momentum and efficiency that’s fundamentally changing cost curves and return profiles. This new fund will build on our track record of supporting scientific founders through rigorous partnership as they navigate the complexities of moving towards commercialization.”
Lindy Fishburne, Managing Partner at Breakout Ventures
“Breakout’s team brings the conviction and clarity you want around the table. Insights from their experience sharpened how we position both our technology and our business model for pharma and AI leaders alike. Tapping into their curated network accelerated our momentum in real time.”
Ron Alfa, MD, PhD, Co-Founder And CEO Of Noetik
“The founders we back are doing the most valuable work in science and technology today: translating scientific innovation into companies that can scale to change our future. That takes more than capital. It takes first true believers with the expertise, the network, and the conviction to help make it real. That’s exactly what we’ve built at Breakout, and Fund III is our most ambitious chapter yet.”
Julia Moore, Managing Partner At Breakout Ventures
