Valthos Secures $30 Million from OpenAI, Founders Fund, and Lux Capital to Advance AI-Powered Biodefense

New York, NY – Valthos, a biosecurity software startup, has announced it has raised $30 million in funding from prominent investors including OpenAI, Founders Fund, and Lux Capital. The investment aims to accelerate the company's mission to build next-generation biodefense systems, leveraging frontier AI to combat the increasing threat of biologically engineered systems. The announcement comes as the startup emerges from stealth mode, highlighting a growing focus on the dual-use potential of artificial intelligence in biotechnology.

Valthos, led by co-founder and CEO Kathleen McMahon, is developing a tech stack for biodefense. The company's approach involves applying advanced AI to identify biological threats and update medical countermeasures in real-time. "Of all AI applications, biotechnology has the highest upside and most catastrophic downside," Valthos stated in a recent social media post, emphasizing the critical need for proactive defense against evolving biological threats.

The New York-based company's technology aggregates biological data from commercial and government sources, including air and wastewater monitoring. This data is then analyzed using AI to identify emerging threats, assess risks, and predict potential attack vectors. Co-founder Tess van Stekelenburg, a venture partner at Lux Capital with expertise in computational neuroscience and biology, joined McMahon to build Valthos after years of searching for a suitable biodefense venture.

OpenAI's involvement underscores a strategic effort by a leading AI developer to invest in safeguards against the potential misuse of its own technology. "OpenAI is putting money in Valthos as a proactive effort to invest in a venture that would build defenses against a disastrous misuse of the technology that it is creating," reported Geo.tv. Founders Fund and Lux Capital, known for their early investments in frontier science and technology, signal the increasing recognition of biosecurity as a critical and scaling field.

Valthos is actively hiring computational biologists and software engineers, inviting individuals passionate about the mission to join their team. The company aims to outsmart biological evolution by rapidly characterizing biological sequences and developing adaptive, precision therapeutics, thereby strengthening biodefense against sophisticated, AI-enabled threats.