Proximal Ventures raises debut fund to back startups bringing AI to drug development

Sahir Raoof has raised $27.5 million for Proximal Ventures, his first solo venture fund, to invest in startups applying AI to drug development. The fund is betting that AI can automate work pharmaceutical companies have traditionally bought from specialist service providers, potentially making those services faster and cheaper.

Proximal plans to invest $500,000 to $1.5 million in pre-seed and seed-stage companies and has already backed seven startups. One is ChronicleBio, which uses AI to analyse biological and medical data to study chronic diseases and identify possible treatments. Raoof previously worked at SignalFire, Iterative Health and Flatiron Health; backers include SignalFire, Kleiner Perkins and former FDA deputy commissioner Amy Abernethy.