--- title: "How Much Did Adaptyv Raise? $40M Series A, No Valuation" description: "Adaptyv closed a $40 million Series A led by Highland Europe. Y Combinator, ACE Ventures, and byFounders returned. Valuation was not disclosed. The company says throughput grew more than 5x and names Chai Discovery, Boltz, Roche, and Novo Nordisk as customers." date: 2026-08-31T00:00:00.000Z tags: ["2026-vc-news", "startup-funding", "venture-capital", "y-combinator", "healthtech", "biotech", "artificial-intelligence"] source: https://venturecapitaltracker.com/2026-adaptyv-40m-series-a-highland-yc --- # How Much Did Adaptyv Raise? $40M Series A, No Valuation > Adaptyv closed a $40 million Series A led by Highland Europe. Y Combinator, ACE Ventures, and byFounders returned. Valuation was not disclosed. The company says throughput grew more than 5x and names Chai Discovery, Boltz, Roche, and Novo Nordisk as customers. **Adaptyv raised $40 million Series A** on **August 25, 2026**. **Highland Europe** led. **[Y Combinator](/fund/y-combinator)**, ACE Ventures, and byFounders returned. **Unexpected truth:** there is **no valuation**. The product is not a model. It is a **wet lab** that takes AI-designed protein sequences and returns experimental data. Named customers on the company post include **[Chai Discovery](/2026-chai-discovery-400m-series-c-index-sequoia)**, **[Boltz](/startup/boltz)**, Roche, and Novo Nordisk. This page is for people deciding whether a YC S21 lab-automation print belongs next to July’s Chai $3.8 billion mark. Last verified **August 31, 2026**. Primary facts are the [company Series A post](https://www.adaptyvbio.com/blog/series-a). ## Five-minute decision | If you need… | Verdict | | --- | --- | | What happened | **Funded.** $40M Series A, Aug 25. **No valuation.** | | Who led | **Highland Europe.** No `/fund/` page here. | | What Adaptyv is | Automated protein wet lab. Not a therapeutics issuer. | | Whether it is shipping | **Company:** >5x lab throughput in a year; **>100** customers. | | Whether to diligence | **Yes**, if you underwrite wet-lab bottleneck for AI biology. **No**, if you need a mark first. | **Investigate further when:** you believe AI protein design is already faster than physical testing, and a copyable workcell is the scarce asset. **Wait or pass when:** you need a post-money, a named contract value, or U.S. clinical data. ## What happened | Field | Detail | | --- | --- | | Company | Adaptyv Bio ([adaptyvbio.com](https://www.adaptyvbio.com)); Lausanne / Biopôle; [YC S21](https://www.ycombinator.com/companies/adaptyv); founders Julian Englert, Daniel Nakhaee-Zadeh Gutierrez | | Round | **$40M Series A** · **no valuation** · company post **Aug 25**; GGBa recap **Aug 31** | | Lead | Highland Europe (no `/fund/` page) | | Returning | ACE Ventures, byFounders, [YC](/fund/y-combinator) | | Prior priced stack | **$8M seed**, ACE-led, **Sep 25, 2025** (ACE post). Do not use “late 2024” from recaps without checking ACE. | | Use of proceeds | Company: double Lausanne team; London office and lab **Q4 2026**. GGBa: roughly **triple** lab capacity by year-end; team **25 → ~60**. | | Revenue / valuation | **Not in the Series A post.** | Do not invent a Highland Europe `/fund/` page. Do not add ACE or byFounders as directory funds. ## What Adaptyv actually does **Job:** take a digital protein sequence in, return wet-lab measurements out — so AI designers are not queued behind a 20-designs-per-target lab. **Company (Series A post):** synthetic biology + nanofluidics + ML; throughput **>5x** over the past year; **>100** customers spanning bio-AI labs and pharma. **Named customers (company):** [Chai Discovery](/2026-chai-discovery-400m-series-c-index-sequoia), [Boltz](/startup/boltz), Roche, Novo Nordisk. **Anthropic demo (company):** Claude designed proteins, sent them to the lab, and got experimental data back. That is a **collaboration claim**, not a drug. GGBa, writing **August 31**, adds the capacity plan (copy the workcell; London Q4; 25 to ~60 people) and says the seed was **$8 million in 2025**. ## Adaptyv vs Chai vs AusperBio — what differs | | [Adaptyv](/startup/adaptyv) | [Chai Discovery](/2026-chai-discovery-400m-series-c-index-sequoia) | [AusperBio](/startup/ausperbio) | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Live print | **$40M** A, Aug 25, **no valuation** | **$400M** C @ **$3.8B**, Jul 14 | **$120M** C, Aug 27, **no valuation** | | What they sell | Automated **validation** | Molecular-design **models** | HBV **drug candidates** | | Named proof | Chai, Boltz, Roche, Novo (company) | Lilly, Novartis, Pfizer (company) | Phase 3 in China; **not approved** | | Directory funds | [YC](/fund/y-combinator) | [Index](/fund/index-ventures), [Sequoia](/fund/sequoia) | None of this syndicate | Same 2026 bio+AI tape. Three different balance sheets. Adaptyv is the lab Chai-class designers can call. ## Worked numbers (company figures) Setup: ACE disclosed **$8 million** seed (Sep 2025). This close is **$40 million**. Move: $40M / $8M = **5x** the last priced equity check. Punch: the A is large versus the seed. It does **not** produce a valuation, an ARR, or a hit-rate you can take into a term sheet. Do not add the 2021–22 pre-seed into a fake 2026 total unless Adaptyv states one. ## When not to use this page - Do not invent a **valuation**. - Do not treat Roche / Novo / Chai / Boltz logos as disclosed **contract values**. - Do not paste EU-Startups’ **~10x revenue**, Claude **26.8% hit rate**, or Proteinbase **10,000 designs** as if they were in the Series A post. Those are secondary recap figures. - Do not date the seed as **late 2024** against ACE’s **September 25, 2025** post. - Do not write Adaptyv as a therapeutics company. It is lab infrastructure. - Do not invent `/fund/` pages for Highland Europe, ACE Ventures, or byFounders. ## Where to go next Entity: [Adaptyv](/startup/adaptyv). Customer overlap: [Boltz](/startup/boltz) · [Chai $400M / $3.8B](/2026-chai-discovery-400m-series-c-index-sequoia). Same-month therapeutics: [AusperBio $120M](/2026-ausperbio-120m-series-c-hbv). YC: [/fund/y-combinator](/fund/y-combinator) · [Winter 2027 apply dates](/yc-fall-2026-application-deadline-interview-guide). Day tape: [August 31 VC news](/2026-august-31-investment-news-adaptyv-clerky-metrics). Month: [August 2026 VC news](/2026-august-vc-news). **By:** [Venture Capital Tracker](https://venturecapitaltracker.com/editorial-policy) **Last updated:** August 31, 2026 **Editorial note:** AI tools assisted with research, structure, or drafting. Venture Capital Tracker retains human editorial responsibility for factual accuracy, relevance, and source quality before publication.