Synfini, Inc., a leader in AI-powered chemistry automation, has secured an $8.9 million expansion of its discovery funding round. The financing was led by JSL Health Capital, with participation from a strong syndicate of early-stage backers. With this latest investment, total funding reaches $53 million, a mix of non-dilutive grants and venture capital.
The Synfini AI Cloud Foundry platform integrates artificial intelligence, automated synthesis, and iterative molecular design to accelerate small molecule drug discovery and synthesis. By fusing physical and virtual chemistry into a unified workflow, the platform delivers novel, pharmaceutically optimized compounds at high speed while significantly lowering development costs.
Bottlenecks in traditional drug discovery are addressed by streamlining target selection, compound design, and synthesis into one agile process. Manual workflows are replaced with a fully integrated approach. Since spinning out from SRI in 2023, Synfini has validated its model through early commercial traction and key strategic alliances. The new capital will fuel product development, operational scale-up, and the expansion of industry collaborations.
“We’re building the next generation of drug discovery infrastructure,” said Doug Donzelli, CEO of Synfini. “This funding enables us to move faster, go broader with our platform, and deepen our relationships with both biotech innovators and large pharma. We’re grateful to be supported by a syndicate of investors who share our vision, including those who’ve backed us since the very beginning.”
JSL Health Capital led the round, joining a list of top-tier investors such as SRI Ventures, WERU Investments, Ferocity Capital, High Water Venture Partners, Foothill Ventures, Trust Ventures, Gaingels, and Mana Ventures.
“Synfini is the rare company that emerges from the foam, fully formed. After years of R&D at legendary research outfit SRI, Synfini’s end-to-end medicinal chemistry AI platform demonstrably shortens small molecule iteration cycles from months to just days. Project planning, property prediction, reaction routes, and synthesis – all included and fully integrated into a chemistry operating system built with chemists and biologists in mind. This is true American innovation that promises to dramatically increase drug pipeline velocity from hit to FTIH. We cannot be more excited to partner with Synfini,” said Lekan Wang, Managing Partner at JSL Health Capital.
“Through its technology and expert application of AI, Synfini has demonstrated the ability to fundamentally change the quality, speed, and cost of small molecule discovery,” said Xuhui Shao from Foothill Ventures. “Synfini’s ground-breaking approach will accelerate the delivery of important new therapies to improve patients’ lives.”