Sovereign AI fund in talks to back drug discovery start-up Potential Sciences

The government's £500m fund to back a wave of promising AI companies is close to taking a stake in Potential Sciences, a drug discovery start-up.

Sky News has learnt that Sovereign AI, which launched earlier this year, is anchoring a funding round for the business.

If completed, Potential Sciences will join a handful of other early-stage companies which have received backing from the fund.

Josephine Kant, Sovereign AI's head of ventures, is understood to be joining the Potential Sciences board as part of the deal.

A number of other investors are also said to be in talks to back the company.

Money latest: Martin Lewis warnings about big risk to savers proved right by £119m penalties bill

Like a number of peers, Potential Sciences is understood to be focused on a proprietary platform which uses sophisticated data analysis to discover molecules, and drugs, more quickly.

Such infrastructure is now becoming increasingly sought after by pharmaceutical companies in the race for new blockbuster medicines.

In addition to a seven-figure capital investment, Sovereign AI is said to be committing compute capacity to the business.

So far, the government fund has announced investments in companies including Olix Computing, Ineffable Intelligence and Callosum.

Collectively, the companies contained in the Sovereign AI portfolio are worth billions of pounds.

More from Sky News:
Why MPs want Thames Water rescue rejected
BoE just made chancellor's job a lot easier - here's why

The vehicle is run by Suzanne Ashman, a venture capital executive whose appointment was revealed earlier this year by Sky News.

The government declined to comment on its talks with Potential Sciences, while the company did not respond to a request for comment.

(c) Sky News 2026: Sovereign AI fund in talks to back drug discovery start-up Potential Sciences