Deep tech company Pharmacelera has raised $6 million in an investment round to help accelerate its expansion in the United States and grow its platform.  

Pharmacelera uses its proprietary quantum mechanics and artificial intelligence (QaiM) algorithms to find novel and diverse molecular candidates across the chemical “exaSpace”.  

The company says its algorithms can generate molecules that are up to 10 times better, 000 times faster, than traditional AI-led drug discovery approaches. Its technology can be applied to small molecules and small peptides in all stages of drug discovery – from hit identification, through hit-to-lead, to lead optimisation. 

Pharmacelera says the investment round will help it establish a permanent team in the US and also expand the technical capabilities of its QaiM drug discovery engine in key growth areas. 

Enric Gibert, Chief Executive Officer of Pharmacelera, said: “The first wave of AI- powered drug discovery promised a lot but delivered comparatively little. Pharmacelera is changing the picture, by coupling AI with quantum-based simulations to leverage the exaSpace – the vast, undiscovered universe of trillions of molecules – to find highly novel drug candidates that are up to 10 times better, using a process that’s up to 75,000 times faster than traditional AI-led approaches.” 

The round was led by Heran Partners, a leading life sciences investor, and joined by Clave Capital, a long-standing tech transfer investor; Inveready, a Spanish alternative asset manager with a dedicated life sciences strategy; and Bio&Tech Smart Capital, a specialist investor in healthtech and science-based innovation. 

Raf Roelands, Partner at Heran Partners and new member of Pharmacelera’s Board of Directors, added: “By combining physics-based algorithms with machine learning, Pharmacelera enables the design of molecular candidates for novel targets and modes of action with a higher probability of success. We have a high conviction in this company, which was reinforced through direct discussions with its customers, including leading pharmaceutical companies, who have already experienced the significant impact of its technology.”