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Artificial intelligence and biotech are two of the sectors that have been able to buck the current sluggish pace of venture capital spending. So it鈥檚 not surprising a startup at the intersection of the two led this week off in a big way.

closed a $200 million Series B. The financing was co-led by previous investor Bio + Health, as well as an unnamed 鈥淯.S.-based life-sciences-focused investor.鈥�

New investors in the round included , and 鈥檚 venture arm . Existing investors , , and also participated.

Genesis is using AI to develop small-molecule drugs and make drug discovery more successful. The Burlingame, California-based startup plans to use the fresh cash to evolve into a clinical stage company, invest in its AI platform, and expand its discovery pipeline.

鈥淎I presents a potent opportunity to revolutionize the drug discovery process, which frequently struggles to produce viable drug candidates against targets that are biologically well-validated but considered undruggable due to highly challenging chemistry,鈥� said CEO Dr. Evan Feinberg in a release. 鈥淭his funding comes as Genesis is approaching an inflection point with the first of our AI-enabled drug candidates entering the clinic.鈥�

AI and biotech get big rounds

An AI or biotech startup 鈥� or, in this case, both 鈥� raising a monster nine-figure round is nothing new this year.

More than 130 U.S.-based companies have raised rounds of $100 million or more this calendar year, per The Crunchbase Megadeals Board. Biotech startups have raised 34 of those rounds 鈥� the most of any sector 鈥� while artificial intelligence startups have received 13 such rounds.

Just last week, biotech startup had the biggest raise of the week with a $155 million round, while AI firm also landed a $100 million financing.

Founded in 2019, Genesis has now raised more than $280 million, per the company.

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