StoneWise Secures Series A+ Funding from GL Ventures to Advance AI-Driven Innovative Drug Design Solutions

VCBeat (WeChat ID: vcbeat) has learned that on September 9, Beijing StoneWise Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “StoneWise”) announced the recent completion of its Series A+ financing round, raising several million US dollars. The lead investor was GL Ventures, with existing shareholder Linear Capital making an oversubscribed investment. Mingxi Capital served as the financial advisor. The proceeds from this round will be used to continuously optimize the integration and innovation of AI technology with drug discovery, build a world-leading intelligent drug R&D platform and an experienced team of multidisciplinary talents, and further advance strategic cooperation and business expansion both domestically and internationally.

Since its establishment, StoneWise has completed three rounds of financing: an angel round invested by SIG at the end of 2018, a Series A round invested by Changling Capital and Linear Capital in March 2020, and this Series A+ round invested by GL Ventures. This marks yet another market recognition of StoneWise’s commitment to building an integrated AI-driven “software + milestone” solution for innovative small-molecule drug design.

Global annual investment in preclinical R&D for innovative drugs exceeds $50 billion and continues to grow. An analysis of the distribution of trials for different drugs or therapies in Phase I clinical studies reveals that small-molecule drugs still account for over 65%. Given that preclinical R&D of small molecules is inherently a hypothesis-driven, trial-and-error process, there is significant potential for optimization. Global and Chinese innovative pharmaceutical companies are actively embracing AI technologies to enhance the efficiency of small-molecule drug discovery, while reducing costs and failure rates. StoneWise is committed to providing technical support for the discovery of small-molecule clinical candidate compounds to innovative pharmaceutical companies both in China and abroad, leveraging its AI technology, multidisciplinary team, and diverse business models.

“Amid the vast market prospects of the pharmaceutical industry, StoneWise’s foundation rests on its profound accumulation of AI technologies, practical products tailored for innovative drug design applications, and a professional team specializing in AI-driven drug R&D,” stated Mr. Zhou Jielong, Founder and CEO of StoneWise. He noted that after two years of technological refinement and experience accumulation in the fields of AI and innovative drug R&D, the company has successfully built an AI technology platform featuring a robust system architecture that integrates big data processing, the combined application of diverse algorithms, computational chemistry, and quantum chemistry. This platform accelerates the early-stage discovery of small-molecule innovative drugs, from project initiation to the identification of clinical candidate compounds.

StoneWise was officially established in 2018 and has remained dedicated to AI-driven small-molecule drug design. Its computer science team comprises professionals from fields such as big data processing, machine learning, natural language processing, and architecture development, with many years of experience at leading internet companies, demonstrating exceptional capabilities in algorithm development and engineering. Its drug R&D team consists of experts in organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, computational chemistry, computational biology, quantum chemistry, and structural biology, who have worked for many years at large pharmaceutical companies and CROs, possessing comprehensive experience across the entire drug research and development process.

Supported by multi-dimensional leading technologies and backed by an outstanding pharmaceutical R&D team, StoneWise has established business collaborations with multiple listed pharmaceutical companies, biotech firms, and top-tier research institutions both in China and abroad. It provides partners with project evaluation, drug design, and full-process project management support. The project portfolio includes First-in-class, Fast-follow, and Me-better initiatives. Among the projects for which wet-lab experimental data has been obtained, all have achieved breakthrough acceleration and cost savings.

Mr. Huang Liming, Partner at Hillhouse and Head of Software and Hard Tech at Hillhouse Ventures, stated, “The R&D of innovative drugs will have a profound impact on the future; however, it is also characterized by extremely high costs, lengthy timelines, and risks that are difficult to quantify to some extent. StoneWise provides a systematic solution for innovative drug R&D through its deep accumulation of AI technology and practical, deployed products. We believe that Dr. Zhou Jielong’s team will accelerate the development of the innovative drug R&D industry, and we are confident that this highly mission-driven and execution-oriented team will create genuine value.”

In recent years, GL Ventures has established a deep and extensive presence in the pharmaceutical sector, with a particular focus on two prime tracks within innovative drug development: cancer immunotherapy and contract research organizations (CROs). Its portfolio includes the four giants of innovative drugs—Hengrui Medicine, BeiGene, Junshi Biosciences, and InnoCare Pharma—as well as CRO industry leaders such as WuXi AppTec and Tigermed. By leveraging GL Ventures’ strengths, StoneWise is poised to continuously overcome technical barriers, integrate new technologies with resources across the pharmaceutical ecosystem, and comprehensively enhance the depth and breadth of AI-enabled drug discovery and development, ultimately emerging as an industry leader with international competitiveness.