Reid Hoffman-led Manas AI nabs $25M for cancer drug discovery

Manas AI, a cancer drug discovery startup co-helmed by LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, raised $24.6 million in funding.

Why it matters: Oncology represents a major area of opportunity when it comes to health tech investment.

Zoom in: Hoffman led the funding round with General Catalyst. Greylock, the VC firm where Hoffman was once a general partner, is also investing.

• The startup will run its AI systems in data centers owned by Microsoft, where Hoffman is on the board of directors.
• Hoffman started the company alongside cancer researcher and Columbia professor Siddhartha Mukherjee. Mukherjee is the author of "The Emperor of All Maladies" and cofounder of several biotech startups.

How it works: Manas will initially focus on breast cancer, prostate cancer and lymphoma, though it plans to broaden its scope to include more conditions, per the Wall Street Journal.

• Mukherjee said he plans for the company "to make money primarily by developing and selling its own drugs."

By the numbers: Research and drug discovery is flush with cash, especially during this era of AI bonanza.

• In 2024, those types of companies received $3.34 billion in funding — five time more than in 2023, per PitchBook.

The intrigue: Hoffman — a Democratic mega-donor reportedly considering a U.S. exodus after President Trump's win — told Quartz he plans to focus on building American businesses, regardless of the administration.

• "I think being high-integrity and all the rest ... I think that's the simplest way for me to positively contribute, which is what all of us should be working on doing," Hoffman said. "I don't know if I were even to make any particular overtures — how they would be received."

Fun fact: Manas is the Sanskrit word for "mind."