In November 2024, Boltz-1 debuted as a fully commercially available AI model to achieve AlphaFold 3-level accuracy in predicting the 3D structure of biomolecular complexes. Since that time, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) research team has continued to push a new standard in open-source AI-based drug development. In less than 18 months, the Boltz series of models have achieved accurate binding affinity prediction (Boltz-2) and therapeutic design across a wide array of drug modalities (BoltzGen) with more than 100,000 scientists across thousands of biotechs implementing Boltz to accelerate discovery. Led by freshly minted PhD graduates, Gabriele Corso, PhD, and Jeremy Wohlwend, PhD, and research scientist, Saro Passaro, the MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) team originates from the lab of Regina Barzilay, PhD, distinguished professor of AI and Health. The trio has now co-founded Boltz, as a public benefit corporation (PBC), turning their prolific technology into a business centered on open science. Corso will lead the company as CEO. Boltz launches with a $28 million seed round led by Amplify, a16z, and Zetta Venture Partners, alongside angel investors, including Clement Delangue, CEO of Hugging Face, Factorial Capital, and Obvious Ventures. Dylan Reid, managing director at Zetta, highlights that Zetta’s investment focus lies in AI native applications, infrastructure, and developer tools. The conventional path for a therapeutics company, which involves raising hundreds of millions of dollars to build a pipeline for a one shot bet on a breakthrough drug, seemed “super disconnected” from how technology and tools evolve. “When we looked at the first generation of AI-driven drug discovery companies, we had a lot of conviction that the technology would be the real difference maker,” Reid told GEN. “The best tools are the ones that are widely used.” Boltz…
