Proxima Raises $80 Million Led by DCVC to Power the Next Generation of Proximity-Based Medicines.

Proxima Bio, unlocking a new chapter in medicine by making protein interactions programmable, led by Zachary Carpenter, Luca Naef, and others, has secured an oversubscribed $80M seed financing led by DCVC, with participation from NVentures (NVIDIA’s venture capital arm), Braidwell, Roivant, AIX Ventures, Yosemite, Magnetic Ventures, Alexandria Venture Investments, Modi Ventures, and additional strategic and institutional investors.

As part of the financing, the company has rebranded from VantAI to Proxima, signaling a dedicated focus on the technology and data infrastructure required to advance proximity-based therapeutics. These next-generation medicines modulate interactions between proteins, covering modalities such as molecular glues and PROTACs, and open pathways to previously undruggable targets.

The new funding accelerates development of first-in-class proximity-modulating therapies, broadening the druggable target landscape and enabling more reliable discovery of novel mechanisms across oncology, immunology, and additional disease areas.

Proximity-based therapeutics offer a powerful new treatment modality but have been limited by gaps in structural data and design tools. Proxima is addressing this by integrating proteome-scale structural data with advanced AI models to make these therapies broadly accessible.

With fewer than 5% of protein–protein interactions structurally characterized, most of the human interactome remains unexplored, representing one of the largest opportunities in drug discovery. Proxima’s mission is to map this space and build the data foundation for rational design across current and emerging proximity-based medicines.

Proxima’s platform combines NeoLink, which generates proteome-scale structural data on protein complexes, with the Neo AI model series to enable end-to-end discovery of proximity-modulating small molecules. The approach accelerates development, enhances safety, and opens new pathways for undruggable targets.

Backed by generative AI and large-scale structural data, Proxima has secured major partnerships with Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Blueprint Medicines, with multiple co-developed programs progressing toward the clinic and the first expected to enter trials in 2026.