Last Week in Longevity #15 - $434M raised + fewer longevity moonshots
Your weekly business digest of everything that happened in longevity.
đ Hi, I am Fabian, and welcome to my newsletter Last Week in Longevity. Every week, I track where the money, talent, and ideas are moving in the longevity business.
đ¸ Closed funding rounds
US$ 434M raised across 9 deals (âď¸ -5% vs. US$ 459M across 7 deals last week)
Direct Longevity Interventions (Category 1)
NextSense â US$ 16M (Series A) | Mountain View, USA
What they do: Builds Smartbuds, the first truly wireless earbuds with clinical-grade EEG sensors that continuously monitor brain activity and use adaptive audio to deepen sleep, improve restoration, and enhance focus.
Why it matters: High-quality slow-wave sleep is one of the most powerful upstream levers on cardiometabolic, immune, and brain aging. If NextSense can make closed-loop sleep optimisation as mainstream as step counting, itâs a direct lifestyle intervention that scales across millions of people.
Investors: Round led by Ascension Ventures, with participation from Satori Neuro, Corundum Neuroscience Fund, and angels including David Eagleman, Esther Dyson, Bradley Horowitz, and others.
Valuation: unknown
Renewal Bio â US$ (undisclosed amount) | Rehovot, Israel
What they do: Renewal Bio develops synthetic embryo-derived tissue platforms (âstembryosâ) to generate functional cells and tissues for regenerative therapies, including applications in age-related organ failure and immune rejuvenation.
Why it matters: If scalable and safe, synthetic embryo-derived tissues are about as upstream as it gets: they promise replacement parts for aging organs rather than incremental symptom control. Thatâs squarely in the ârepair the damage of agingâ bucket and directly targets multiple age-related diseases at once (bone marrow, immune system, organ failure).
Investors: YZi Labs (first biotech investment) plus undisclosed co-investors.
Valuation: unknown
Longevity-Aligned Disease Modification (Category 2)
Solve Therapeutics â US$ 120M | San Diego, USA
What they do: Solve Therapeutics develops next-generation antibodyâdrug conjugates (ADCs) for solid tumors using its CloakLink⢠hydrophilic linker platform, aiming to improve pharmacokinetics, stability and safety compared to conventional ADCs.
Why it matters: Solid tumors (lung, breast, GI, etc.) are still among the biggest killers in later life. Better-tolerated, more precise ADCs that work in difficult solid tumors are clearly longevity-relevant: they extend survival and can preserve quality of life if toxicity and off-target damage are reduced.
Investors: Led by Yosemite; new investors Abingworth, Ally Bridge Group, B Capital, Balyasny Asset Management, Merck & Co., SymBiosis
Valuation: unknown
Artios Pharma â US$ 115M (Series D) | Cambridge, UK / New York, USA
What they do: Artios is a DNA damage response (DDR) oncology company advancing an ATR inhibitor (alnodesertib) and a Polθ inhibitor (ART6043) for ATM-negative cancers (e.g. pancreatic, colorectal) and BRCA-mutant breast cancer, plus a DDR-ADC program.
Why it matters: Targeting DDR in specific genetic contexts aims to selectively kill tumor cells while sparing healthy tissue. Thatâs especially relevant in older patients who canât tolerate broad cytotoxic regimens. If Artiosâ drugs can turn lethal late-stage cancers into controllable diseases with less collateral damage, thatâs directly extending healthy years.
Investors: Co-led by SV Health Investors and RA Capital Management; participation from Janus Henderson Investors, Andera Partners, Avidity Partners, EQT Life Sciences, Invus, IP Group, M Ventures, Novartis Venture Fund, Omega Funds, Pfizer Ventures, Piper Heartland, Schroders Capital, Sofinnova Partners and others.
Valuation: unknown
Gate Bioscience â US$ 65M (Series B) | South San Francisco, USA
What they do: Gate Bioscience creates âmolecular gateâ drugs, degrader-like biologics targeting secreted and extracellular disease proteins, for indications in immunology and oncology.
Why it matters: A large fraction of late-life morbidity is driven by chronic inflammation and cancer. If Gate can safely clear or silence pathological secreted factors (think cytokines, growth factors) with high specificity, it could deliver longer, healthier lives via better control of autoimmune disease and cancer progression.
Investors: Led by SR One and Andreesen Horowitz
Valuation: unknown
Scripta Therapeutics â US$ 12M (Seed) | Oxford, UK
What they do: Scripta Therapeutics is building a small-molecule discovery platform focused on modulating transcription factors, aiming at disease-modifying treatments for chronic conditions where gene expression programs drive pathology (e.g. neurodegeneration, immunology).
Why it matters: Durable, upstream control of transcription factors could shift disease trajectories rather than just treating downstream symptoms. For age-related neuro or immune diseases, thatâs squarely longevity-aligned, potentially slowing or reversing progression over many years.
Investors: Oxford Science Enterprises (OSE) and Apollo Health Ventures, with further investment from AlbionVC, YZR Capital, and Parkwalk Advisors, and support from Oxford University Innovation
Valuation: unknown
Modulight Biotherapeutics â US$ 12M (Seed) | Boston, USA
What they do: Modulight Biotherapeutics is developing an optogenetic neuromodulation platform (light-activated therapies delivered via implanted devices) to treat chronic neurological disorders, including chronic pain and movement disorders such as Parkinsonâs and dystonia.
Why it matters: Chronic pain and neurodegenerative movement disorders are major drivers of late-life disability, polypharmacy, and reduced activity. A more precise, device-driven neuromodulation approach could reduce systemic drug burden, improve function, and keep patients independent longer.
Investors: Lead by Jibe Ventures and LocalGlobe, with participation from Nexus Neurotech Ventures, RedSeed VC, Secret Chord Ventures, Fresh Fund, Saras Capital, SilverArc Capital and Shaâar Mivnim
Valuation: unknown
Skeletalis â US$ 8M | Boston, USA
What they do: Skeletalis is building a bone-targeted small-molecule platform (OASISâ˘) starting with a locally activated osteoporosis drug designed to prevent fractures and preserve bone mineral density while minimising systemic side-effects.
Why it matters: Osteoporosis is a classic age-related condition: fractures in older adults drive disability, loss of independence and excess mortality. A safer, bone-targeted therapy that patients can stay on for years would directly extend functional healthspan, particularly for post-menopausal women.
Investors: Pillar VC (lead), KdT Ventures, age1, Slocum Management
Valuation: unknown
Longevity Enablers (Category 3)
Beacon Biosignals â US$ 86M (Series B) | Boston, USA
What they do: Builds an AI-driven electroencephalogram (EEG) analytics platform and wearable EEG devices to generate high-resolution brain biomarkers, supporting drug development and clinical care in sleep, epilepsy, neurodegeneration and psychiatric disorders.
Why it matters: Weâre desperately short of objective, scalable central nervous system biomarkers, which slows trials and obscures early disease. Beaconâs platform is exactly the kind of measurement layer needed to (a) de-risk brain-targeted longevity drugs and (b) give clinicians early warning and progress tracking in real-world patients.
Investors: Series B led by Innoviva, with participation from GV, Nexus NeuroTech Ventures, S32, Catalio Capital Management, Takeda Ventures, and existing investors including General Catalyst, Casdin Capital, Logos Capital, Global Brain.
Valuation: Unknown
đ° Top longevity business news
Longevity startup funding: fewer moonshots, but plenty of investments
What happened:
Venture capital for longevity-focused startups is still flowing, but the size of deals has come down from the âmega-roundâ era; the biggest 2025 round identified was ~$130 m. Read more here.Why it matters:
It signals a recalibration of investor expectations in the longevity sector: fewer ultra-high risk bets (apart from drug development), more disciplined capital deployment.
For entrepreneurs and investors it means the bar is getting higher: bigger proof-points needed before large rounds, meaning earlier-stage companies need to show more tangible milestones.
It also indicates that the longevity space is maturing â moving from hype to execution. Thatâs good for long-term stability, though it may compress near-term upside for risk investors
AstraZeneca bolsters obesity portfolio with muscle-preserving buy
What happened:
AstraZeneca acquired SixPeaks Bio with US$170 m upfront + up to US$130 m in milestones to add muscle preservation during weight-loss to its obesity therapies pipeline. Read more here.Why it matters:
The global obesity market is massive (US$30 bn) and has major overlap with longevity: better metabolic/weight health = longer healthy lifespan.
It is the perfect addition to GLP-1s, often claimed to be the first longevity blockbuster drug.
đ Events & meetups (Europe-only)
(FR) Tech for Longevity 2025 (Nov 25-26, 2025)
(ES) 4th Longevity World Forum (Feb 18-20, 2026)
(CH) SIP Longevity Retreat (Apr 20-24, 2026)
(PT) 4th Global Longevity Med Summit (May 6-7, 2026)
(DE) LIFE Summit (May 29-30, 2026)
(IE) Longevity Summit Dublin (Jun 24-26, 2026)
(NL) HLTH Europe (Jun 15-18, 2026)
(CZ) 8th World Aging & Rejuvenation Conference (Jun 18-19, 2026)
(UK) The Longevity Show (Jun 26-27, 2026)
(AT) 2nd World Congress on Future of Aging & Rejuvenation Science (Jul 20-21, 2026)
(DE) POLLY Longevity Festival (Aug 21-23, 2026)
đź New Longevity jobs (Europe-only)
(Berlin) Klinik Manager @ YEARS
(MĂźnchen) Dualer Student @ Moleqlar
(London) Co-Founder & CMO @ Dendro Health
(London) Founder @ Longevity Startup
đ To see the full list of all Longevity jobs, visit our Job Board.
Keep building the future of longevity - one week at a time.
Fabian
P.S. Want your open positions or events to be featured? Just send them my way by replying to this email.