- Isomorphic Labs – a company
using frontier AI for drug design and
development – is the latest to
receive investment from Sovereign AI.
- Investment forms part of a raise by
London-based scale-up as Britain's AI sector continues
to accelerate.
- Isomorphic Labs is founded by AI pioneer Sir Demis Hassabis,
whose breakthroughs have been honoured with accolades including
the Nobel Prize and Breakthrough Prize.
Isomorphic Labs, a London-founded and
headquartered company, using AI to design and
develop new medicines, has been named as the latest firm to
receive investment from the UK Government's Sovereign AI Fund
today (Tuesday 12 May).
The investment forms part of a fundraise announced by Isomorphic
Labs today, as it scales up its work to
tackle some of the world's most serious diseases.
The company, founded by Nobel Prize-winner Sir Demis Hassabis,
is reimagining drug discovery, with AI at its
core.
Launched just last month, Sovereign AI is the
government's big bet on promising early-stage AI
companies to help them grow, scale and
succeed from Britain, offering a range of backing to
high-potential AI businesses that are starting out here in the
UK.
It is a venture capital fund with the muscle of the state
behind it – moving fast, backing ambition and cutting
through the red tape that so often holds brilliant ideas back,
so they can go on to succeed globally.
Science and Technology Secretary said:
Isomorphic Labs' ground-breaking work has the potential to
reshape completely how medicines are
discovered – cutting
years off development and giving real
hope to people living with
devastating diseases. This is AI at its very
best – pushing the boundaries of innovation to improve
people's lives.
Britain has a proud history of world-changing medical
breakthroughs – from penicillin to MRI
scanners. Now in the AI era, we are backing a
brilliant UK firm working on another huge jump forward
in science to the benefit of people across the country
and around the world.
Isomorphic's work builds on the breakthrough success of
AlphaFold: the AI model developed by DeepMind that sent
shockwaves through the world of science through its ability
to accurately predict the structures of proteins –
which are the chemical building blocks of all life on
Earth.
Isomorphic Labs is going
beyond AlphaFold, developing a number
of proprietary breakthrough AI models that
together form its unified drug design engine, across multiple
therapeutic areas and drug modalities.
This backing brings the number of startups receiving equity
investment from Sovereign AI to 3 since it launched, and the
overall number of startups receiving Sovereign AI
backing - including support accessing compute –
to 9.
Sovereign AI Head of Ventures Joséphine Kant
said:
Isomorphic is one of the most consequential companies being built
anywhere in the world today, and it's being built in
Britain. Sovereign AI exists to invest in the companies
that will shape what this country becomes next. Sir
Demis Hassabis, Max Jaderberg, and
the team they have built deserve a country
willing to match their ambition with its own, and we intend to
make sure it does.
AI is the defining technology of our era. For Britain
to shape its own future in the years ahead,
the UK needs
to strong, homegrown AI capability. That means
backing the very best AI innovators, founders and
entrepreneurs to bring their ideas to life here - and
grow and succeed from the UK. With the
third largest AI market in the world and more AI startups than
anywhere else in Europe, the UK is starting from a position
of strength but we know we need to go further
and faster. Sovereign AI is the government doing exactly
that: making sure the next wave of AI breakthroughs are built
in Britain so the benefits – jobs, growth and
innovation – remain on our shores.
All of the companies Sovereign AI supports have a meaningful
presence here in the UK, and are set to create jobs and
contribute to the economy here.
