Total amount raised
$164.1 Millions
Latest funding date
05/01/2023
Location
BenchSci has successfully raised $95 million in its Series D funding round, aimed at advancing its AI-driven platform, ASCEND. The company is backed by 16 investors, including notable names like Inovia Capital and Golden Ventures.
Keep reading to explore the intricacies of BenchSci's fundraising journey and the investors backing this innovative platform.
What Is BenchSci?
BenchSci, founded in 2015, is headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The company leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence to accelerate biomedical discoveries, empowering scientists to run more successful experiments and speed up drug discovery.
The company was founded by David Qixiang Chen, Elvis Wianda, Liran Belenzon, and Tom Leung. Their flagship product, ASCEND, is a generative AI platform designed to assist preclinical scientists by unraveling disease biology and guiding research efforts.
BenchSci employs between 251 and 500 people, and their technology is utilized by pharmaceutical companies and over 4,300 research centers worldwide.
How Much Funding Has BenchSci Raised?
- Pre-Seed Round
- Amount Raised: CA$2.5M
- Date: July 2016
- Lead Investors: Afore Capital, Golden Ventures
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To develop the initial version of their AI platform and validate the business model.
- Seed Round
- Amount Raised: CA$254.5K
- Date: October 2016
- Lead Investors: Real Ventures
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To further develop the AI platform and begin initial market penetration.
- Series A
- Amount Raised: CA$10.2M
- Date: May 2018
- Lead Investors: Inovia Capital
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To scale the platform and expand the customer base.
- Series A
- Amount Raised: CA$6.7M
- Date: June 2019
- Lead Investors: Gradient
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To enhance the platform's capabilities and increase market reach.
- Series B
- Amount Raised: $22M
- Date: February 2020
- Lead Investors: F-Prime Capital
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To accelerate product development and expand into new markets.
- Debt Financing
- Amount Raised: $7.5M
- Date: February 2020
- Lead Investors: Not publicly disclosed
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To support operational expenses and short-term financial needs.
- Series C
- Amount Raised: CA$63M
- Date: January 2022
- Lead Investors: Inovia Capital, TCV
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To gain market traction with its AI-assisted reagent selection application and develop ASCEND, its enterprise AI platform for life sciences R&D.
- Series D
- Amount Raised: CA$95M
- Date: May 2023
- Lead Investors: Generation Investment Management
- Valuation at Round: Not publicly disclosed
- Motivation Behind the Round: To expand BenchSci’s AI drug discovery platform, ASCEND, and to offset risks without sacrificing company velocity amid current economic conditions.
Total amount raised: $170 million USD. Current valuation: Not publicly disclosed.
Key Investors
- Generation Investment Management
- Details: Generation Investment Management is a sustainable investment management firm co-founded by Al Gore. The firm focuses on long-term investments in companies that address environmental and social challenges.
- Investment Focus Areas: Sustainable businesses, long-term investing, integrated sustainability research.
- Notable Investments: Asana, Gusto, Toast.
- Inovia Capital
- Details: Inovia Capital is a venture capital firm that partners with founders to build impactful and enduring global companies. The firm is based in Canada and focuses on early and growth-stage technology companies.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology, innovation, early and growth-stage companies.
- Notable Investments: Lightspeed, Snap, AppDirect.
- TCV (Technology Crossover Ventures)
- Details: TCV is a private equity and venture capital firm that invests in technology companies at various stages of growth. The firm has a strong track record of backing successful tech companies.
- Investment Focus Areas: Technology companies, growth-stage investments.
- Notable Investments: Netflix, Facebook, Spotify.
- F-Prime Capital
- Details: F-Prime Capital is a global venture capital firm affiliated with Fidelity Investments. The firm focuses on healthcare and technology sectors, supporting companies that drive innovation in these fields.
- Investment Focus Areas: Healthcare, technology.
- Notable Investments: Beam Therapeutics, Denali Therapeutics, Innovent Biologics.
- Gradient Ventures
- Details: Gradient Ventures is Google’s AI-focused venture fund. The firm invests in early-stage companies that leverage artificial intelligence to solve complex problems.
- Investment Focus Areas: Artificial intelligence, early-stage investments.
- Notable Investments: Algorithmia, Labelbox, Luminai.
What's Next for BenchSci?
BenchSci's future looks promising as it continues to expand its AI-driven drug discovery platform, ASCEND. With the recent $95 million Series D funding, the company aims to enhance the speed and success of preclinical drug development, reducing trial-and-error experimentation and uncovering risks early. This expansion presents a significant opportunity, given that ASCEND is already used by 16 of the top 20 pharmaceutical companies and over 50,000 scientists worldwide.
Future fundraising opportunities seem likely, as BenchSci's growth and market traction have attracted high-profile investors. The company may pursue additional funding rounds to further develop its platform and expand its reach. However, challenges such as maintaining the accuracy of AI models, competition from other AI-driven solutions, and ensuring data privacy and security could pose hurdles along the way.
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