BlackRock joins $100m series-C funding for Exscientia

Alessia Argentieri
05 March 2021

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BlackRock has invested $40m in a series-C funding round for UK-based drug discovery company Exscientia.

This investment is an extension of a $60m series-C round led by Novo Holdings, with participation from Evotec, Bristol Myers Squibb and GT Healthcare Capital Partners, in May 2020.

The company plans to use the fresh capital to expand its existing portfolio of drugs, extend its proprietary pipeline into clinical trials, grow its artificial intelligence capabilities and expand in the US.

Following the deal, William Abecassis, head of BlackRock's innovation capital, will join Exscientia's board of directors as an observer.

Previous funding
Exscientia raised a $15m series-A funding round from drug discovery specialist Evotec in September 2017.

GT Healthcare backed the company in a $26m series-B round in January 2019. New investor Celgene Corporation and previous backer Evotec also took part in the round.

Company
Founded in 2012 and based in Oxford, Exscientia specialises in artificial-intelligence-driven drug discovery.

The company's platform, CentaurAI, enables it to generate novel drugs and overcome conventional drug discovery limitations by moving rapidly from idea generation to new drug molecules ready for clinical development.

In addition to its proprietary pipeline, the company has conducted drug discovery partnerships with Bristol-Myers Squibb, Sanofi, Bayer and Dainippon Sumitomo, as well as several biotech companies.

Employing 100 staff from 20 different countries, Exscientia has doubled in size over the past year and expanded in the US, with a presence in Miami and Boston.

People
Exscientia – Andrew Hopkins (CEO).
BlackRock – William Abecassis (head of innovation capital).