BenevolentAI has raised a staggering $115m from a set of new and existing investors.
The company, which expanded to New York in August last year, has hit a pre-money valuation of $2bn.
According to a statement, the majority of the funds came from investors in the US, but the balance of raised funds came from backers including Woodford Investment Management.
This raise brings BenevolentAI’s total amount of funding raised to $200m in the past five years.
Ken Mulvany, founder and chairman of BenevolentAI, said: “We are very pleased with the response to the fundraising. It reflects the rapidly growing global interest in the AI pharmaceutical sector and the recognition of our place as the dominant player within it.
“We have come a very long way since we founded the business in 2013. The capabilities of our technology didn’t exist six years ago. We are pioneering this sector and have evolved into a fully integrated, AI enabled drug development company with the ability to deliver better medicines at previously unimaginable speeds – this ultimately means patients will receive the right medicines, at a lower cost, in less time.”
The company says it will use the cash to scale its drug development activities, broaden the disease areas on which it focuses, and extend its AI platform capabilities even further.
A portion of the funds will go towards expanding BenevolentAI’s capabilities into other science-based industries.
BenevolentAI is backed by investors including Lansdowne Partners and Upsher Smith Laboratories.
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