Profile

As a global leader in enterprise AI solutions for drug discovery, BenchSci’s mission is to exponentially increase the speed and quality of life-saving R&D to help bring new medicines to patients faster. By harnessing the power of AI, BenchSci’s ASCEND platform is transforming preclinical research and development (R&D) within the pharmaceutical industry. Today, ASCEND serves as an AI assistant for the brightest scientists at leading pharmaceutical companies. Its cutting-edge technology decodes and connects the vast landscape of biomedical research, multi-omics data, and integrates it with proprietary customer data. This creates an unbiased map of the underlying biology of disease, empowering scientists to discover novel insights and accelerate R&D. Their platform, ASCEND, increases the productivity of the preclinical R&D pipeline across therapeutic areas by supporting its core functions, from target ID & prioritization to experimental design and validation, all the way to translational workflows to ensure clinical success.

Backed by top-tier investors, including Generation Investment Management (Al Gore’s firm), iNovia Capital, TCV, F-Prime, Gradient Ventures (Google’s AI fund), and Golden Ventures, BenchSci has raised over $200 million. Today, their platform accelerates science at 16 top-20 pharmaceutical companies and over 4,500 leading research centers worldwide.

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Key Products

BenchSci’s ASCEND platform harnesses the power of AI to transform preclinical research and development (R&D) in the pharmaceutical industry. Today, ASCEND serves as a Gen AI assistant/co-pilot for the brightest scientists at leading pharmaceutical companies. Its cutting-edge technology decodes and connects the vast landscape of biomedical research and multi-omics data, integrating it with proprietary customer data. This creates an unbiased map of the underlying biology of disease, empowering scientists to discover novel insights and accelerate R&D. ASCEND increases the productivity of the preclinical R&D pipeline across therapeutic areas by supporting its core functions, from target ID & prioritization to experimental design and validation, all the way to translational workflows to ensure clinical success.

Key Executives

Liran Belenzon, CEO & Co-Founder

After achieving his commerce and law degrees and selling his first startup, Liran immigrated to Canada to do his MBA at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. While at Rotman, he worked in the Creative Destruction Lab (CDL), where he met three Ph.D. students—all immigrants like him—who were working to discover how AI could solve the declining productivity of drug discovery. Together, they founded BenchSci in 2015 and launched the ASCEND™ platform in 2023. Since their time at CDL, BenchSci has gone from four co-founders to a more than 350-employee operation that has raised more than $200 million from top investors, including Generation Investment Management, TCV, iNovia Capital, F-Prime, Gradient Ventures (Google’s AI fund), and Golden Ventures, and works with 16 of the world’s top 20 pharma companies, over 4,500 academic institutions, and more than 50,000 scientists.

As CEO, Liran strives to inspire team members to be the best version of themselves and positively impact the world. Liran is a 2021 Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year finalist and is passionate about using AI to exponentially increase the speed and quality of life-saving research.

Eran Ben-Ari, Chief Operating and Platform Officer

Eran is a technology leader with 15 years of experience successfully leading product, design, and engineering teams by combining a constant pursuit of people development, customer obsession, and commercial growth.

Prior to joining BenchSci in June 2021, Eran led product and engineering teams of over 120 people. He was General Manager at Koru, an OTPP-owned venture incubator driving innovation, and Chief Product Officer at Top Hat and Kik Interactive. Earlier in his career, he was VP of Product at Rounds Entertainment (acquired by Kik), VP of Marketing & Growth at Hola (acquired by EMK Capital), and VP of Product at Kampyle (acquired by Medallia).

His vast expertise in improving product development processes, building high-performing cross-functional teams, and increasing product launch velocity will be integral as BenchSci advances towards its vision of bringing novel medicines to patients 50% faster by 2025.

Bryn Knox, Chief Financial Officer

Bryn has a BCom from Rotman Commerce at the University of Toronto and holds the CPA, CMA designation. At BenchSci, Bryn has built out the financial reporting and forecasting practice in addition to providing financial visibility around key opportunities and ensuring BenchSci has the capital to scale rapidly.

Prior to joining BenchSci, Bryn spent three years at Wave, a leader in cloud-based small business financial software and acquired by H&R Block in 2019, where he supported the company’s rapid growth through multiple equity funding rounds, built robust forecasting processes, developed reporting and control systems for complex financial products and led external financial statement audits.

Prior to Wave, Bryn was at Anthem Entertainment, where he worked on over $100M of transactions as part of the Acquisitions department and launched Anthem Digital, spearheading Anthem’s reach in acquiring digital IP as well as closing the first direct licensing agreement with YouTube for an independent music publisher.

Yan Liu, Senior Vice President, Technology

With over 20 years of experience in cloud computing, software architecture, data engineering, and machine learning, Yan brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to BenchSci.

Throughout her career, Yan has made significant contributions at the intersection of life sciences, machine learning, and search, which resonates deeply with our mission and vision at BenchSci. Her strategic insights, combined with her ability to navigate complex technological landscapes, drive us toward new heights and continued success.

Casandra Mangroo, Senior Vice President, Product and Science

As SVP of Product and Science, Casandra has been instrumental in developing BenchSci’s product vision to accelerate preclinical drug discovery by empowering scientists in leading research laboratories with cutting-edge deep learning technology.

Having experienced the frustrating research challenges preclinical scientists face while doing her Ph.D. research in virology at the University of Toronto, she joined BenchSci in 2017 as a scientific associate.

Casandra leads BenchSci’s Science and Product teams focused on helping research scientists perform more successful experiments to accelerate the pace of therapeutic discoveries. Working closely with leadership and scientists across top pharmaceutical companies, Casandra translates organizational research challenges into impactful solutions through new data initiatives and the expansion of platform applications.

Casandra is equally passionate about diversity in STEM, acting as a mentor and empowering women leaders in tech as the executive sponsor of BenchSci’s first ERG, BenchShe+.

Chad Malek, Executive Vice President, Sales

Chad has an MBA from the Dauch College of Business, Ashland University, and a Bachelor of Science from the University of Akron.

Over the past 15 years, Chad has been acknowledged as a sales professional and leader helping healthcare, IT, and clinical trial software companies achieve their commercial goals. As an accomplished Sales Executive and National Account Leader at GE Healthcare, Chad was recognized as the #1 sales executive in back-to-back years and received the Commercial Hero Award, a global designation provided by the CEO.

As EVP of Sales, Chad is responsible for shaping, training, and leading the sales team to achieve the commercial business goals.

Customer Insights

• Novartis saved over USD 14 million from 2018 to 2021 by deploying BenchSci’s platform. Scientists at the Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR) use BenchSci to select the best antibodies and other key reagents for their work, avoiding costly and unproductive experimental dead ends. BenchSci has helped accelerate projects by months while also delivering novel scientific insights.


• As a result of using ASCEND, Novo Nordisk reported a more than 60% productivity increase in the included aspects of target assessment and biomarker understanding in early research and drug discovery.

Investors

BenchSci technology has attracted top investment firms. In May 2023, we closed our $95 million CAD Series D funding round led by Al Gore’s Generation Investment Management, with participation from existing investors Inovia Capital, TCV, Golden Ventures, and F-Prime Capital. The most recent funding brings BenchSci’s total funds raised to $200 million CAD. Other investors include Gradient Ventures (Google’s AI fund).

Competitors

Internal Pharma efforts, Causaly.

Corporate Responsibility

Commitment to Corporate Social Responsibility

BenchSci’s commitment to corporate social responsibility goes beyond its mission to accelerate scientific discovery. The company strives to empower its team to make a positive impact on communities and the broader social, environmental, and economic landscape. This commitment is evident through initiatives in three key areas: supporting STEM education, promoting diversity and inclusion, and advancing environmental sustainability.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

Since 2020, BenchSci has had a dedicated Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team that reports to the Chief Financial Officer. This team has expanded its scope to also support sustainability initiatives. In 2023, BenchSci began working to better understand carbon emissions across all levels and partnered with organizations such as WAP, Emitwise, and EcoVadis. The company has committed to transparency and progress, expanding its DEI report to focus on impact rather than solely on representation and culture. In the 2023 Year in Review, BenchSci included emissions data and outlined its sustainability goals for the future.

STEM Education and Community Partnerships

BenchSci has also expanded its community partnerships, particularly with organizations like The Knowledge Society (TKS), to strengthen its commitment to STEM education and support underrepresented communities. The company’s Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) play a crucial role in fostering an inclusive culture, advocating for positive change, and creating a sense of belonging. Through its Chapter Program, BenchSci connects geographically dispersed employees, reminding them they are part of a larger, supportive family.

Investing in People

BenchSci believes that investing in its people is an investment in its future. The company has prioritized career development and employee well-being by enhancing its Total Rewards program and conducting a comprehensive compensation fairness analysis. Understanding that a happy and fulfilled workforce is key to its success, BenchSci continues to foster a work environment where employees feel valued and supported.