{"entity":{"id":"valar-labs","kind":"company","name":"Valar Labs","aka":[],"tldr":"Valar Labs uses artificial intelligence on routine bladder cancer biopsy slides to predict whether a patient's tumour will respond to BCG immunotherapy, helping doctors decide between BCG and other options such as surgery.","summary":"Valar Labs, founded by Anirudh Joshi, Damir Vrabac and Viswesh Krishna with roots in Stanford medical AI research, develops Computational Histology AI (CHAI) tests that read routine H&E pathology slides to predict treatment response. Vesta Bladder, described as the first AI-based oncology test offered clinically, predicts response to intravesical BCG in non-muscle invasive bladder cancer; it was developed on more than 1,000 patients across four continents, with analyses in the Journal of Urology and, in July 2026, JCO Precision Oncology. Vesta Prostate extends the approach to prostate cancer, validated on the ENZAMET and CHAARTED phase 3 trial cohorts, and Vitara is a further prostate product; generalisation to pancreatic cancer was published in Cell Reports Medicine. The company raised a $22 million Series A in May 2024 co-led by DCVC and a16z.","asOf":"2026-09-10","links":[{"label":"Official website","url":"https://www.valarlabs.com/"},{"label":"Series A announcement (May 2024)","url":"https://www.valarlabs.com/news/series-a"},{"label":"Evidence page","url":"https://www.valarlabs.com/evidence"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["urothelial","prostate","pancreatic"],"sections":["diagnostics","ai-computation"],"technologies":["digital-pathology-ai","companion-diagnostic"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":[],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":["HQ city is not stated anywhere on the fetched pages; Palo Alto, CA is taken from the caller's hint and should be treated as unconfirmed. Founding year not sourced. Regulatory status of Vesta (LDT) not stated on fetched pages."],"hq":"Palo Alto, CA","country":"US","companyType":"ai-software","website":"https://www.valarlabs.com/","stage":"startup","investors":["dcvc","a16z-bio-health"],"funding":[{"round":"Series A","year":2024,"amountUsd":22000000,"source":"https://www.valarlabs.com/news/series-a","note":"Co-led by DCVC and a16z with existing investor Pear VC, May 2024."}]},"route":"/companies/valar-labs/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"urothelial","kind":"cancer","name":"Bladder & urothelial cancer","route":"/cancers/urothelial/"},{"id":"pancreatic","kind":"cancer","name":"Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma","route":"/cancers/pancreatic/"},{"id":"prostate","kind":"cancer","name":"Prostate cancer","route":"/cancers/prostate/"}],"section":[{"id":"ai-computation","kind":"section","name":"AI & Computation","route":"/fronts/ai-computation/"},{"id":"diagnostics","kind":"section","name":"Diagnostics & Biomarkers","route":"/fronts/diagnostics/"}],"technology":[{"id":"companion-diagnostic","kind":"technology","name":"Companion diagnostics","route":"/technologies/companion-diagnostic/"},{"id":"digital-pathology-ai","kind":"technology","name":"Digital pathology & AI","route":"/technologies/digital-pathology-ai/"}],"company":[{"id":"a16z-bio-health","kind":"company","name":"Andreessen Horowitz Bio + Health","route":"/companies/a16z-bio-health/"},{"id":"dcvc","kind":"company","name":"DCVC","route":"/companies/dcvc/"}]}}