Breakout Ventures announced on Mar. 10 that it has raised $114 million for its third fund, which will focus on supporting early-stage biotechnology startups using artificial intelligence to address scientific challenges.
The new fund comes at a time when many investors are shifting their attention toward more mature and derisked assets, making it harder for young biotechs to secure funding. Breakout Ventures aims to fill this gap by providing financial backing to companies in the earliest stages of development.
According to the company, the fund has already begun investing in startups. One recipient is a spinout from the University of Chicago working on functional small-molecule drugs with computationally enhanced chemical analysis. Another supported company is led by an industry veteran and focuses on commercial distribution solutions for scientific innovations; both remain in stealth mode.
“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,” Breakout Managing Partner Lindy Fishburne said in a prepared statement. Fishburne added that the third fund will help founders navigate their startups through early development challenges and bring them to market.
The launch of this fund stands out because it explicitly targets early-stage companies, while much of the broader funding environment has moved away from such investments. Recent reports indicate that seed and series A fundraising rounds have declined over the past year, with investors showing increased preference for assets with clinical data behind them.
Despite these trends, there have been some positive signs so far this year, including several notable seed or series A raises within the biotech sector.
