British startup Potential Sciences has secured backing from the UK government’s Sovereign AI venture fund. The support includes investment in the eight-figure funding round announced by the company, as well as access to computing power for training and running AI models.
The company is developing an AI model based on fundamental laws of physics to design new chemicals, including medicines. Current methods typically rely on data from real-world laboratory experiments, which can be slow and costly.
Potential Sciences says its approach could make the AI calculations needed to design chemicals 100 times cheaper. That could enable research in areas currently considered too expensive or uneconomical to pursue.
Sovereign AI will also provide access to supercomputers through the UK’s AI Research Resource, including the Isambard-AI system in Bristol. The fund backs promising early-stage and growth-stage AI companies in the UK.
Founder and chief executive Hatem Helal said the company had rebuilt quantum chemistry for graphics processing units. He said more efficient software could let seed funding pay for computing that previously required a dedicated data centre.
Other backers in the round include Twin Path Ventures, Odyssey, Portfolio Ventures, Blue Wire Capital, rule30, Nauta Capital and Lightfield Equity. Angel investors include Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison and Chris Gibson, co-founder and former CEO of Recursion.
