BenchSci claims its AI technology can teach computers to read and think like PhD scientists. The young company has put the software in the hands of pharmaceutical companies and research institutions, and it now has $50 million in funding to support the expansion of the technology.
US$50 million (CAD 63 million) Announce Monday’s Series C round. The investment was led by Inovia Capital and TCV.
Toronto-based BenchSci software uses machine learning models to extract insights from published scientific data and pharmaceutical companies’ internal databases. According to BenchSci, these models understand the biological meaning of extracted data and establish relationships between biological entities.
BenchSci is focused on improving research productivity in the preclinical phase, where work can be hindered by “preclinical waste,” such as the use of inappropriate reagents in experiments. Finding and testing reagents takes time and money. BenchSci’s technology uses AI to help users select reagents to test, reducing the chance of those experiments failing. The company grew out of a research blunder that its founder Tom Leung encountered while studying cancer. Using inappropriate antibodies as reagents caused him to lose rare patient samples, according to the BenchSci website. Leung worked with scientists at the University of Toronto to develop a software solution for preclinical waste.
BenchSci was founded in 2015. It launched a commercial version of its technology in 2017. According to BenchSci’s website, its technology has been used to analyze more than 12.1 million research papers and 57.9 million reagents. The company claims its technology is currently used by 16 pharmaceutical companies including Sanofi, AbbVie, GlaxoSmithKline and Eli Lilly. The technology is also used in more than 4,500 research centers around the world. In the funding announcement, BenchSci CEO Liran Belenzon said his company’s next-generation AI software could help drug companies develop new drugs faster.
“We are using groundbreaking machine learning techniques to shape the future of research conducted by life sciences companies, from identifying targets to planning experiments to identifying clinical trial risks,” he said. “The confidence shown by the global pharmaceutical companies that were early adopters of our new solutions was enough to convince Inovia Capital to fund another round of financing and TCV to support our high growth.”
Before announcing the funding on Monday, BenchSci last raised money in 2020, round B financing. The latest funding brings BenchSci’s total raised to date to $97 million. In addition to Inovia Capital, early-stage investors included F-Prime and Google’s artificial intelligence fund Gradient Ventures.
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