ByteDance AI drug unit Anew Labs raises $290 million after spin off

ByteDance has completed a $290 million fundraising for Anew Labs, its AI drug discovery unit, after spinning the business out of the group, two people with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Sept. 16, 2026. One of those sources said the Shanghai based company reached a $1.5 billion valuation after its first external raise.

ByteDance and the named investors did not immediately respond to Reuters' requests for comment, so the deal details remain attributed to anonymous sources rather than an on the record company confirmation.

Investors and ownership

According to the Reuters sources, the round was led by HSG (formerly Sequoia China), IDG Capital, and GL Ventures, the venture arm of Hillhouse Investment, with 5Y Capital as a co lead. Other participants named by the sources included Gaorong Ventures, Primavera Venture Partners, Boyu Capital, strategic investor SBP Group, and state backed Shanghai Future Industries Fund.

A second source told Reuters that ByteDance will keep a 56 percent stake after the fundraising. The Next Web's write up of the Reuters report repeated that ownership figure and the $1.5 billion valuation while adding context from Chinese tech outlets about the spin off.

Why ByteDance spun the unit out

One Reuters source said ByteDance separated the AI drugmaker to support long term development because AI drug discovery follows a different industry logic and management approach from the group's core social and internet businesses. The Next Web, citing Intelligent Emergence (a 36Kr publication), reported that about 50 core staff were expected to move to the new company with algorithms, technology platforms, and pipeline assets, and that Volcano Engine, ByteDance's cloud unit, would keep supplying compute.

Reuters said Anew Labs' website describes platforms for biomolecular structure prediction and design, antibody design and optimisation, and drug discovery, plus offices in Shanghai, San Francisco, and Singapore. The Next Web similarly noted Shanghai, Singapore, and San Jose listings and pointed to structure prediction and protein design work such as Protenix and PXDesign. Reuters said the pipeline on the company's site includes a small molecule drug, a drug targeting a protein on the surface of human cells, and two undisclosed target programs. The Next Web added that in April, biology lead Chris Li presented an AI designed IL 17 inhibitor as one of four candidates at an immunology meeting in Boston, according to that outlet's account.

What is not public yet

Neither Reuters nor The Next Web published a full investor syndicate confirmation from the firms themselves, nor clinical stage details beyond website and conference references. How quickly Anew Labs will convert the $290 million into disclosed trial milestones, and whether ByteDance or the investors will ever comment on the record, remain the concrete open questions.