AI Virtual Cell Firm Baiyao Raises New Funding

Baiyao Technology, a trailblazer in AI Virtual Cell (AIVC) platforms, has successfully closed a new funding round totaling tens of millions of yuan. This significant capital infusion was spearheaded by China National State-owned Capital Operating Platform's Guoxin Venture Capital Fund, with participation from Daotong Capital and Yunqi Capital. Existing backers Matrix Partners China and Baidu Ventures also contributed, underscoring strong confidence in the company's trajectory. The newly acquired funds are earmarked for advancing next-generation virtual cell algorithms, bolstering proprietary data collection infrastructure, and accelerating the commercial deployment of their innovative technology.

The AIVC sector is rapidly emerging as a pivotal area within AI and life sciences, promising to revolutionize drug discovery and development. Unlike earlier AI applications focused on molecular screening, Baiyao's AIVC technology operates at the cellular level. This allows for sophisticated modeling and dynamic simulation of biological systems, offering predictive capabilities across the entire drug development lifecycle. From dissecting disease mechanisms and identifying novel targets to virtually screening drug candidates and predicting preclinical efficacy and toxicity, AIVC represents a paradigm shift from molecule-centric to cell-centric AI in life sciences.

Baiyao Technology's foundational models are trained on extensive single-cell multi-omics datasets. By deciphering cellular state transitions, gene regulatory networks, and cross-scale causal relationships, the company constructs powerful foundation models capable of predicting cellular fate. Researchers can input initial cell states and specific perturbation conditions, such as drug exposure or genetic modifications, and the AIVC model can forecast critical biological processes like proliferation, differentiation, senescence, apoptosis, and disease progression. This capability enables researchers to conduct large-scale virtual experiments, prioritizing hypotheses before committing to costly and time-consuming wet lab validation.

This shift towards a "model-driven" research paradigm is expected to dramatically reduce R&D expenditures and shorten development timelines, while simultaneously enhancing the success rates in drug development. The broader market is increasingly recognizing AIVC not just as a research tool, but as a foundational infrastructure for the life sciences. Industry observers, including ARK Invest, have highlighted virtual cells as one of the most disruptive frontiers in AI and life sciences, akin to how large language models have reshaped information processing.

The company's technical prowess is well-documented. In September 2023, Baiyao's founding team released GeneCompass, a knowledge-enhanced, multi-species cell foundation model, published in Cell Research. Further advancements include the 2025 release of the CellGraphCompass model, which integrates graph algorithms and prior knowledge into virtual cell modeling. This foundational work propelled the team to achieve top rankings in global virtual cell challenges, securing first place in preliminary rounds and second overall in the finals.

Baiyao's strategic focus extends to building a robust data ecosystem. Leveraging four years of accumulated public datasets for initial model training, the company is now implementing proprietary data generation technologies. This includes collecting high-quality, time-continuous perturbation datasets specifically tailored for AIVC model training and initiating large-scale clinical data collaborations for dataset generation. This dual approach of advanced modeling and proprietary data acquisition positions Baiyao to lead in the rapidly evolving AI for Life Sciences arena.