(Yicai Global) April 12 -- StoneWise Technology, a Chinese firm whose artificial intelligence platform helps companies develop new drugs, has completed its Series B and B+ financing rounds, totaling USD100 million.

The Series B+ round was jointly led by Lightspeed China Partners and Greater Bay Area Homeland Development Fund, and the B round was led by Legend Capital, the Beijing-based firm said in a statement today.

Founded in 2018, StoneWise is committed to building the world’s leading small molecule drug research and development platform after reaching a milestone of establishing China's No. 1 commercial software in the field. The firm completed four rounds of financing over the past year.

The funding rounds will enable StoneWise to enhance its technology, projects, and teams, said founder Zhou Jielong.

China is the world’s second-largest drug R&D market and using AI for novel medicine discovery is extremely eye-catching and the related market is expected to be worth trillions of US dollars, said Lightspeed's Founding Partner Han Yan.

Innovative medicine development involves a long development cycle, high risks, huge investments, and high failure rates, so AI could bring revolutionary changes to the field, according to the statement.

StoneWise’s team works fastest and with the highest quality amongst the Chinese AI platforms for drug R&D that Lightspeed has seen, Han added.

Editor: Emmi Laine, Xiao Yi