Wuhan Chemical.AI Secures Over RMB 30 Million in Series A Funding to Advance AI-Driven Pharmaceutical Synthesis

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that Wuhan Chemical AI Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Wuhan Chemical AI” or “Chemical.AI”) recently announced the completion of its Series A financing round, raising over RMB 30 million.Led by Sequoia China Seed Fund,Nest.Bio Capital and existing shareholder FreeS Fund participated in the follow-on investment,The funds raised will be primarily used for market expansion, exploration of new directions, and the recruitment of senior R&D talent. Previously, the company completed its angel round of financing in 2019.

Chemical AI is a big data and AI-driven technology company dedicated to solving preclinical chemical synthesis challenges in new drug development through artificial intelligence and chemical big data, thereby enhancing the efficiency of pharmaceutical companies’ R&D processes. The founding team of Chemical AI has over a decade of deep expertise in cheminformatics, boasting extensive R&D experience and a substantial accumulation of specialized chemical and chemical engineering data. As a pioneer in China, the company is at the forefront of the niche sector leveraging AI to empower chemical synthesis for new drug discovery.

Commenting on securing this round of financing, Dr. Xia Ning, Founder of Chemical AI (Wuhan), stated, “Our team has cultivated deep expertise in the niche field of chemical synthesis for many years, accumulating extensive experience and achievements. We have established significant technical barriers in core technologies and data, which collectively contributed to Chemical AI’s success in securing this round of financing. From initial technology development to current commercial implementation, we aspire to drive the company toward a deeper level of impact—addressing the critical pain points in the new drug R&D industry. This financing brings us one step closer to achieving this goal and better realizing our vision.”

Dr. Xia Ning holds a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the French Academy of Sciences, where his advisor is the current President of the French Chemical Society. With a dual background in chemistry and computer science, Dr. Xia previously worked in the R&D departments of Bayer Pharmaceuticals in Germany and L'Oréal in Paris, France. In 2009, he co-founded eNovalys in Strasbourg, France, serving as its CTO. In 2016, he returned to China to join Wanghua Technology as the Director of Product Information. Since his studies abroad, Dr. Xia has been dedicated to in-depth research and development in the field of cheminformatics, accumulating years of expertise and mastering multiple core technologies. In 2018, he founded Wuhan Chemical AI (Wuhan Zhihua Technology) and currently serves as its CEO.

In the new drug development industry, the average cycle from compound discovery and design to final market approval is 13 years, with total costs reaching as high as $1.7 billion. Specifically, the discovery and optimization of preclinical lead compounds take an average of 3.5 years, with capitalized costs amounting to $580 million, where the large-scale chemical synthesis of molecules constitutes the primary workload. However, synthesis based on manual experience suffers from drawbacks such as low efficiency, high costs, and the need for extensive trial-and-error, making molecular synthesis the main rate-limiting step in preclinical new drug research and development.

Applying artificial intelligence to enhance the efficiency of compound synthesis R&D has become a key solution. However, leveraging AI to empower chemical synthesis is easier said than done. Unlike drug molecule design, industrial chemical synthesis is more akin to an experimental science. “In other words, relying solely on computational power cannot determine whether a chemical experiment will succeed, which is why the chemical synthesis stage has long been difficult to empower with AI and big data,” explained Dr. Xia Ning.

Compound synthesis is one of the most technically challenging stages in new drug development. To facilitate its automation and intelligentization, companies require not only specialized technical expertise but also extensive foundational data on chemical reactions, years of accumulated experience, and a thorough understanding of the industry to achieve high-efficiency chemical synthesis powered by AI. This constitutes the core competitiveness of Chemical AI (Wuhan) and the key reason for its successful investment.

In March 2018, the Waller Lab published a paper in Nature, demonstrating to the academic community the feasibility of using artificial intelligence to accelerate the chemical synthesis of new drugs. The investment community also began to focus on this niche sector, extending olive branches to the Xia Ning team, which had been deeply engaged in the field for many years with professional expertise. Wuhan Chemical AI applied its independently developed core technology patents, combining rule-based algorithms and machine learning. By introducing chemical knowledge through databases and integrating internal enterprise data, the company effectively addresses practical challenges encountered by synthetic chemists, such as insufficient data for certain types of chemical reactions. This approach not only retains the advantages of automated machine learning but also ensures good interpretability and clear evaluation criteria, enabling continuous optimization and upgrades.

A comparison of the current algorithms developed by Chemical AI (Wuhan) with human chemists indicates that the algorithms have already surpassed human experts in two core metrics. The other two metrics have also reached levels comparable to those of human experts, and it is anticipated that within the next few years, these algorithms will tackle the most complex problems in the total synthesis of natural products.

Dr. Xia Ning likened the software powered by artificial intelligence and big data algorithms to the human brain, while the hardware executing the brain’s commands was compared to the human limbs. The strategy of Wuhan Chemical AI is to prioritize the “brain” (software), expanding possibilities through continuous improvement of its core capabilities. The company has already completed the development of its core technological algorithm platform and established business collaborations with four leading enterprises both in China and abroad, helping them accelerate the chemical synthesis of new drugs. In the future, Wuhan Chemical AI also plans to explore hardware device development to validate and enhance its retrosynthesis analysis tools, organically integrating software and hardware to build a new business model.

In 2020, the global market size for chemical synthesis sub-sectors was estimated to be between tens of billions and hundreds of billions of US dollars. As an innovator in this niche market, Wuhan Chemical AI boasts broad prospects for business expansion, significantly enhancing efficiency in downstream fields such as drug development.

Regarding the investment in Chemical AI (Wuhan),Cao Xi, Partner at Sequoia Capital China Fund, the Lead Investor“Sequoia China continues to closely monitor breakthroughs driven by new technologies in the field of drug R&D. Compound synthesis is a critical step in small-molecule drug development. Chemical AI’s synthesis prediction technology combines machine learning with expert rules, significantly improving the efficiency and accuracy of compound synthesis, reducing costs, and enabling rapid commercialization. Currently, Chemical AI has secured substantive order-based collaborations with multiple global pharmaceutical giants and leading CROs, strongly validating the value of its products and technological advantages. With a top-tier team possessing interdisciplinary expertise in chemistry and computer science/IT, Chemical AI has dedicated over a decade to advancing chemical synthesis, accumulating extensive databases and establishing high barriers to entry, thereby offering substantial future growth potential.”

Investors in this roundZhou Yuexin, Vice President of Nest.Bio CapitalThey also acknowledged: "The Chemical AI team has accumulated years of experience in the field, demonstrating pragmatism and a proactive spirit. Its technical platform boasts significant advantages across four dimensions: computing power, algorithms, data, and know-how. The core technology for retrosynthesis has gained recognition from top-tier global pharmaceutical companies and CROs, leading to established partnerships. We are highly optimistic about the trends toward digitalization, automation, and intelligence in the chemical synthesis industry, and we are honored to join hands with Chemical AI."

Existing ShareholdersShen Jiong, Partner at FreeS Fund“Chemical AI was the earliest institutional investor in Zhihua. In just over a year, Wuhan Zhihua Technology has become a global leader in AI-assisted chemical synthesis. We remain firmly confident in its exceptional team and strategic direction, and will continue to increase our investment to support its growth.”

Sequoia Capital China has always been committed to helping entrepreneurs build enduring, great companies by bringing rich global resources and valuable historical experience to its portfolio companies. Over the past 49 years, Sequoia Capital has invested in numerous innovative enterprises and leaders shaping industry trends. As “entrepreneurs behind entrepreneurs,” Sequoia Capital China focuses on investment opportunities in three key sectors: technology/media, healthcare, and consumer goods/services. Over the past 16 years, Sequoia Capital China has invested in nearly 600 companies distinguished by their strong technological attributes, innovative business models, high growth potential, and significant development prospects.

Nest.Bio is a venture capital and innovation incubation fund focused on the life sciences sector. Committed to identifying revolutionary life science technologies, Nest.Bio leverages its keen sensitivity to scientific breakthroughs to transform these innovations into globally impactful biotechnology companies through an incubation model. Adhering to a hands-on investment philosophy, Nest.Bio serves as a close partner to entrepreneurs, providing support to startup teams at various stages of growth. As a lead-series investor, Nest.Bio has participated in the incubation and investment of numerous biotech enterprises, including HiFiBio Therapeutics, Rootpath, UtiGene, Senti Bio, Paq Therapeutics, and Bota Bio. Its portfolio spans cutting-edge areas of biotechnological innovation, such as single-cell technology, protein degradation, and synthetic biology.

FREES FUND is committed to mobilizing all available capital, technology, and resources to invest in outstanding startups and help them grow into great enterprises with long-term social and commercial value.

Five years since its inception, FreeS Fund has evolved into a fund management firm driven by early-stage investments and actively positioned in growth-stage opportunities. Our key investment sectors include Consumer/TMT, Hard Tech, and Biopharmaceuticals. Our portfolio features innovative enterprises such as Three Squirrels (listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange), 360 DigiTech (listed on NASDAQ), Uber Global (listed on the New York Stock Exchange), Unity (listed on the New York Stock Exchange), QingTao Development, XtalPi, Kayou Diagnostics, Singleron, Saturnbird Coffee, WingFei Automation, CoreVision Technology, Onion Academy, Nuoxin Chuanglian, Shangyu, Two Point Five Animation, Chicecream, and PaperClip.

P.S. Chemical AI is dedicated to solving chemical problems with computers, reshaping the future of chemistry. The company is currently seeking talent in chemistry and IT in Shanghai and Wuhan. Individuals with relevant backgrounds who are interested in this field are welcome to join.