Variational - About the company
Variational is a seed company based in Vancouver (Canada), founded in 2019 by Zaccary Alperstein and Handol Kim. It operates as an AI based platform for small-molecule drug discovery. Variational has raised $9M in funding from investors like Alliance of Angels, A&E Investments and Flying Fish Ventures. The company has 279 active competitors, including 86 funded and 15 that have exited. Its top competitors include companies like Schrodinger, Recursion Pharmaceuticals and Relay Therapeutics.
Company Details
AI based platform for small-molecule drug discovery. The company's flagship platform, Enki, represents the first commercially available foundation model designed to generate novel, synthesis-ready drug candidates with optimized properties like potency, selectivity, and ADMET profiles
- Website
- variational.ai
- Social
- Email ID
- *****@variational.ai
Key Metrics
Founded Year
2019
Location
Vancouver, Canada
Stage
Seed
Total Funding
$9M in 2 rounds
Latest Funding Round
Investors
Ranked
32nd among 279 active competitors
Employee Count
23 as on Aug 31, 2026
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Variational's funding and investors
Variational has raised a total funding of $9M over 2 rounds. Its first funding round was on Dec 11, 2021. Its latest funding round was a Seed round on Feb 20, 2025 for $*****. 7 investors participated in its latest round. Variational has 7 institutional investors and 3 angel investors.
Here is the list of recent funding rounds of Variational:
Date of Funding | Funding Amount | Round Name | Post-Money Valuation | Revenue Multiple | Lead Investors | Other Investors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Feb 20, 2025 | 7185002 | Seed | 5803787 | 9878278 | 2656060 | 2605603 |
Dec 11, 2021 | 4984353 | Seed | 9787275 | 9672397 |
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Variational's founders and board of directors
Founder? Claim ProfileThe founders of Variational are Zaccary Alperstein and Handol Kim. Handol Kim is the CEO of Variational.
Here are the details of Variational's key team members:
- Zaccary Alperstein: Former Co-Founder of Variational. Contact Info: 1 email address
- Handol Kim: Co-Founder & CEO of Variational and founder of 1 other company.
View details of Variational's Founder profiles and Board Members
Variational's employee count trend
Variational has 23 employees as of Aug 26. Here is Variational's employee count trend over the years:
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Variational's Competitors and alternates
Top competitors of Variational include Schrodinger, Recursion Pharmaceuticals and Relay Therapeutics. Here is the list of Top 10 competitors of Variational, ranked by Tracxn score:
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Rank | Company Details | Short Description | Total Funding | Investors | Tracxn Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1st |  Schrodinger 1990, New York City (United States), Acquired | Provider of a web-based simulation and modelling tool | $162M | 74/100 | |
2nd | Recursion Pharmaceuticals 2013, New York (United States), Public | AI-enabled drug discovery and development platform for novel therapeutics | $452M | 72/100 | |
3rd | Relay Therapeutics 2016, Cambridge (United States), Public | Developer of drug discovery platform and study protein motion | $520M | 70/100 | |
4th |  Atomwise 2012, San Francisco (United States), Series B | Developer of artificial intelligence platform for small molecule drug discovery | $219M | 67/100 | |
5th |  Valo Health 2019, Boston (United States), Series B | AI-powered platform for drug discovery and development | $450M | 67/100 | |
6th |  XtalPi 2014, Cambridge (United States), Public | AI-based drug research and development company | $785M | 67/100 | |
7th |  Xaira 2023, San Francisco (United States), Series D | AI-enabled platform for drug discovery and development | $1B | 63/100 | |
8th |  In Silico 2014, Boston (United States), Public | AI-enabled bioinformatics platform for drug discovery and biomarker development | $510M | 63/100 | |
9th |  Tandem AI 2021, New York (United States), Series A | AI-based drug discovery tool for researchers | $82M | 62/100 | |
10th | Genesis Therapeutics 2019, San Francisco (United States), Series B | Developer of an AI platform for discovering and designing novel drugs | $304M | 62/100 | |
32nd | Variational 2019, Vancouver (Canada), Seed | AI based platform for small-molecule drug discovery | $9M | 54/100 |
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Variational's Investments and acquisitions
Variational has made no investments or acquisitions yet.
Reports related to Variational
Here is the latest report on Variational's sector:
News related to Variational
Filter this listMedia has covered Variational for a total of 6 events in the last 1 year, 3 of them have been about partnerships and 2 about company updates.
•
Rakovina Therapeutics and Variational AI Extend Partnership for Optimized Cancer Therapy DevelopmentThe Canadian Press•Oct 14, 2026•Variational, Rakovina Therapeutics
•
Variational AI Releases Enki 4: Major Update to Foundation Model for Small-Molecule Drug DiscoveryBusiness Wire•Apr 07, 2026•Variational
•
Rakovina Therapeutics and Variational AI Expand Collaboration to Advance Next-Generation ATR InhibitorsFinancial Post•Jan 08, 2026•Variational, Rakovina Therapeutics
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Merck to Acquire Cidara Therapeutics, Inc., Diversifying Its Portfolio to Include Late-Phase Antiviral AgentThe Joplin Globe•Nov 14, 2025•Cidara Therapeutics, Merck, Westpac, Merck Sharp & Dohme and 3 others
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Variational AI Enters Collaboration with Merck to Apply Generative AI to Drug DiscoveryNewswire•Sep 24, 2025•Variational, Merck
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Rakovina Therapeutics' AI Program Yields Potent ATR Inhibitor HitsFinancial Post•Jul 23, 2025•Variational, Rakovina Therapeutics
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Rakovina Therapeutics Congratulates Variational AI for Winning LifeSciencesBC’s 2025 Biotech Company of the Year AwardGlobeNewswire•Jul 11, 2025•Rakovina Therapeutics, Variational
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Rakovina & Variational AI get funding from Nimbus (backed by Merck) to boost AI drug discovery.GlobeNewswire•Feb 26, 2025•Rakovina Therapeutics, Variational
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Variational AI Announces Oversubscribed $5.5 Million Financing to Launch Foundation Model for Small Molecule Drug DiscoveryBusiness Wire•Feb 20, 2025•Variational, Enki, Nimbus Synergies, Merck Global Health Innovation Fund and 9 others
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$50M for AI-programmable biology: Latent Labs, led by DeepMind’s AlphaFold alumnus, to design novel proteinsTech Funding News•Feb 13, 2025•Latentlabs, Radical Ventures, Sofinnova Partners, Flying Fish Ventures and 13 others
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