Biotech startup investment has remained remarkably steady over the past few years, even as venture capital floods into generative AI, according to new data from Crunchbase. Global funding for biotech startups has hovered between $36 billion and $40 billion annually for several years, and 2026 is on track to stay within that range. This stability stands in contrast to overall venture investment, which hit a record level in the first half of this year, though much of that money went to a small number of large AI companies.
A significant portion of this year’s biotech funding has gone to startups at the intersection of biology and artificial intelligence, with more than $6 billion flowing to AI-focused biotechs so far in 2026. The largest round for any biotech this year was a $2.1 billion Series B for London-based Isomorphic Labs, an AI-first drug design and development company. Delaware-based Earendil Labs, which builds AI platforms for protein therapeutics, raised $787 million in March, while San Francisco’s Chai Discovery, which applies AI to drug discovery, secured $400 million in a Series C this summer at a $3.8 billion valuation.
Not all heavily funded biotechs describe themselves as AI-centric. NewLimit, a South San Francisco longevity startup developing medicines to restore youthful function in old cells, raised $435 million in a June Series C. The overall funding pipeline remains heavily tilted toward seed and early-stage rounds, which account for more than half of all investment and most deals, a pattern consistent with prior years as later-stage biotechs often pursue public listings after Series B or C rounds.
Several biotechs have gone public relatively early in their lifecycles, particularly in hot areas like obesity treatments and pain management. Kailera Therapeutics, a Waltham, Massachusetts developer of oral and injectable obesity therapies founded in 2024, went public in April, six months after closing its Series B. Personalized medicine startup Kardigan made its Nasdaq debut in June after raising more than $550 million in early-stage funding the prior year, and Latigo Biotherapeutics, which develops non-opioid therapies for chronic pain, completed its IPO in August about a year-and-a-half after its Series B.
Later-stage biotechs have also participated in the IPO market, with the year’s largest biotech offering coming from 10-year-old Parabilis Medicines, a cancer therapeutics company that raised its Series F in January. Mergers and acquisitions have also provided meaningful exits, with at least 12 funded companies sold in transactions valued at $1 billion or more, including potential milestone payments.
Overall, Crunchbase data shows biotech funding and exits holding at healthy levels this year, though the pace looks modest compared to the AI investment surge. As funding continues to accumulate at the intersection of AI and biotech, that enthusiasm may spill over into the sector in coming quarters.
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