Braidwell delivered strong performance in 2025, with its flagship hedge fund posting a 28% gross return as the firm increased its focus on artificial intelligence applications across the healthcare sector, according to a report by Bloomberg.
The Stamford, Connecticut-based investment firm, founded by former Deerfield Management executive Alex Karnal and former Bridgewater Associates chief operating officer Brian Kreiter, said it plans to expand investments in AI-driven biopharmaceutical companies this year as opportunities in the sector continue to grow.
Braidwell launched in 2022, raising about $3.5bn during a wave of hedge fund start-ups that followed the Covid-19 pandemic. Its main investment vehicle, the Braidwell Partners Fund, manages approximately $3.1bn and invests in publicly listed healthcare companies across equities and credit markets.
According to the firm, several healthcare technology and diagnostics companies contributed significantly to last year’s gains, including Guardant Health, Alphatec Holdings and Caris Life Sciences.
Braidwell operates through three core platforms. Its flagship hedge fund focuses on public equities and credit instruments, while Braidwell Credit provides direct financing to healthcare businesses. The firm also runs an early-stage incubator, Braidwell Labs, which develops and backs emerging life-science and AI-driven healthcare companies.
The firm’s strategy centres on the growing convergence of artificial intelligence and biotechnology. Kreiter said the investment team expects significant opportunities in companies that both develop AI-enabled medical technologies and build platforms used by pharmaceutical companies to accelerate drug discovery and development.
Since its launch, Braidwell has supported several early-stage ventures in the AI-biology space, including Lila Sciences, which is developing technology to run large-scale automated scientific experiments, and Proxima, which focuses on designing medicines that influence how proteins interact.
The firm’s broader platform combines traditional investment strategies with scientific expertise and machine learning tools. Its roughly 40-person team includes biologists, statisticians, engineers and investment professionals who use AI models as part of the investment process to identify potential breakthroughs in healthcare and life sciences.
