From biotech veterans to embattled modalities to a new wave of RNAi therapeutics, BioSpace’s NextGen Class of 2026 emerged during a tough fundraising environment in 2025. Check out the 15 battle-tested companies that caught our eye.
Capital flow to early stage biotechs tightened in 2025 as investors opted for later-stage, data-driven bets. So the 15 companies that made this year’s list of BioSpace’s startups to watch are special indeed.
Biotech is still fighting back after venture capital firms went all-in during the pandemic, only for many of those assets to underperform, according to a year-end outlook from PitchBook. Companies that managed to nab a chunk of this limited capital pool had a lot to prove—and thankfully, the industry has been churning out innovations that PitchBook dubbed “nothing short of revolutionary.”
We think this group of 15 companies meet that bar.
To come up with the NextGen Class of 2026, BioSpace identified companies that announced initial, seed or series A rounds between October 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025. They were then assessed using several different criteria including financing, partnerships, pipeline, growth potential and innovation.
This year’s list recognizes rare disease pioneers and those going after neglected diseases. From spinal cord injury to cancer, metabolic disease to inflammation and immunology, these NextGen companies represent the best of the best.
Biotech boss and serial entrepreneur John Maraganore is responsible for two biotechs on this list. While we don’t like to double reward any one person or firm, we couldn’t help but be intrigued by City Therapeutics and Corsera Health.
Maraganore partnered with ARCH Venture Partners for City, which will go after targets that approved RNAi therapeutics—like those from Maraganore’s former company Alnylam—have yet to tackle. Corsera, meanwhile, combines AI-enabled predictive tools with siRNA technology to make once-yearly treatments for cardiovascular disease.
The former leaders of MyoKardia are back at the helm of NextGen-honoree Kardigan Therapeutics, after the cardiology biotech was bought by Bristol Myers Squibb in 2020. Kardigan has a lofty goal: to move cardiovascular disease down the list of leading killers. The company’s Phase III asset ataciguat has already shown a slowing of heart damage progression.
Stylus Medicine has arrived at a tough time for cell therapy. 2025 saw Big Pharmas such as Novo Nordisk and Takeda exiting the space. But Stylus has pushed on, emerging in May 2025 with a plan to create next-generation genetic medicines that are less complex than previous attempts. Maybe Stylus’ approach will finally help biotechs break through.
In a year where funding for early-stage bets was tight, Light Horse galloped away with the headlines. The small molecule drug discovery biotech emerged in January 2025 with two big news items: first, a $62 million series A launch and then a deal with Novartis worth up to $1 billion. The biotech is using genetic screening and chemical libraries to find new medicines, starting with oncology first.
There are many more fascinating biotechs on our NextGen list. You can bet that the BioSpace team will be watching these companies closely for news as they head toward the clinic and through drug development.
This is the 12th edition of NextGen, which gives BioSpace’s editors a chance to take a deep dive into the biotech newsmakers of the future. We can’t wait to see what lucky year 13 has to hold.
