Enveda, a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing a new generation of small-molecule drugs sourced from nature, has announced a significant milestone with the close of its $150 million Series D funding round. The round was led by Premji Invest and included participation from a mix of new and existing investors such as Baillie Gifford, Kinnevik, Lingotto Investment Management, Peakline Partners, FPV, Socium Ventures, Dimension, Level Ventures, Henry Kravis, IA Ventures, and Lux Capital. It follows a previous $150 million Series C round that included support from Sanofi. And this latest investment brings the company’s total funding to $517 million and marks its transition into unicorn status.
Alongside the funding news, Enveda has also begun its first Phase 1b clinical trial for its lead drug candidate, ENV-294, targeting moderate to severe atopic dermatitis. This trial builds on promising results from earlier Phase 1a studies in healthy volunteers, where the drug demonstrated strong safety and tolerability. ENV-294 is a first-in-class, oral anti-inflammatory molecule discovered entirely through Enveda’s proprietary platform. It represents a new chemical class with a unique mechanism of action and has shown efficacy in preclinical models, comparable to leading kinase inhibitors and steroids, but with a safety profile similar to biologics.
Enveda’s approach to drug discovery is built on a proprietary chemical sequencer that uses machine learning and metabolomics to decode complex chemistry found in living systems. This technology allows researchers to explore previously inaccessible natural compounds and identify therapeutic properties at scale. The company has assembled one of the largest collections of natural samples and developed tools to make this chemistry searchable, enabling faster and more precise drug development.
With the new funding, Enveda plans to advance several clinical programs into Phase 1b and Phase 2 trials, targeting conditions that affect over 100 million adults in the United States, including asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, and obesity. The company also expects to file multiple Investigational New Drug (IND) applications in the near future.
In addition to its clinical progress, Enveda has expanded its leadership team with the appointment of Dr. Mikael Dolsten to its Board of Directors. Dr. Dolsten is the former Chief Scientific Officer and President of Worldwide R&D at Pfizer, where he played a key role in advancing over 150 drug candidates and securing 36 approvals. His experience and strategic insight are expected to support Enveda’s continued growth and innovation as it moves deeper into clinical development.
Enveda’s rapid rise—from initial seed funding to a robust pipeline of sixteen preclinical programs, more than a dozen development candidates, and multiple IND-enabling studies—shows the potential of its platform to transform drug discovery. By unlocking the vast chemical diversity of nature and applying cutting-edge technology, the company is paving the way for a new era of first-in-class therapies.
KEY QUOTES:
“Enveda is proving that it’s possible to generate novel and first-in-class small molecule therapeutics at an unprecedented speed, scale, and efficiency. We believe there is a large unexplored search space for novel medicines, and Enveda has built the platform to translate life’s chemistry into treatments that could be transformative for millions of patients across the globe. This team is turning breakthrough science into medicines at a pace that is exceptionally rare, and are on their way to building what could be an industry-defining company.”
Akshay Rai, Principal, Healthtech and Biotech at Premji Invest
“At Enveda, we are learning from life’s chemical code. Nature has been running the most sophisticated R&D program on Earth for billions of years, yet nearly all of its chemistry remains unexplored. By making this hidden language searchable and pairing it with AI, automation, and metabolomics, we are transforming how medicines are discovered. We’re building a generational company that changes the way the world understands and uses life’s chemistry, to deliver breakthroughs that can redefine medicine and transform industries.”
Viswa Colluru, Founder and CEO, Enveda
“I’m proud to join Enveda, where the team has built the technology to harness the potential of life’s chemistry at scale.”
Dr. Dolsten
