BenchSci
BenchSci sells AI software that helps pharmaceutical researchers find and use biomedical data faster. It works with 16 of the top 20 drug companies and over 4,300 research centers, and has raised $164M including a Series D in 2023.
The growth story
BenchSci grew from 158 to 220 employees between 2021 and 2026, raising $164M along the way, most recently a Series D in May 2023.
About
BenchSci makes tools for scientists in drug development to search and analyze biomedical literature. Its AI platform aims to cut the time researchers spend manually reviewing papers, with customers including major pharma firms.
The company has grown to 220 employees and counts Google's AI fund among its backers. It was named one of Canada's fastest-growing tech companies by Deloitte in recent years.
Founders and leadership
Engineering makes up over a quarter of BenchSci's 220-person team. The company operates remotely with leadership based in Toronto, where it was founded in 2015.
The BenchSci org chart
Liran Belenzon (Founder and CEO) leads 59 mapped leaders with 9 direct reports. Click +N to expand a team; names link to the person’s public profile.
Departments, and which ones grew
Headcount by function: Engineering 80 (-22% YoY), Research 30 (-42% YoY), Information Technology 28 (-35% YoY), Sales 13 (0% YoY), Business Development 12 (+9% YoY), Product Management 9 (-44% YoY).
Talent flow
Nearly 1 in 5 employees came from the University of Toronto, with hospitals and IBM also common sources. Alumni frequently move to tech firms like Google and Amazon or pharma companies like Sanofi.
Most common previous employers of BenchSci staff: University of Toronto (18), The Hospital for Sick Children (11), McMaster University (7), McGill University (6), University Health Network (6), IBM (5). Former BenchSci employees most often moved to Autodesk (4), Sanofi (4), Google (4), Roche (3), Jane App (3), Amazon (3).
Alumni worth knowing
The BenchSci mafia
10 ex-staff have founded companies, including Strata Capital Partners and Luvida. These spinouts employ over 40 people combined.
10Matt Brennan, was Board Member until 2024James Malone, was VP Engineering - Data, Machine Learning, and Bioinformatics until 2023Krish Mendapara, was Scientist Intern until 2024Ibukun Elebute, was Data Translation Manager until 2024Abid Ghods, was Software Engineer until 2020Samantha Padilla Torres, was Director of Talent Experience & Acceleration until 2022
Sean Kennedy, was Lead Talent Acquisition Partner until 2025
Erik Cohen, was Senior AI Engineer - GenAI & Evaluation until 2025
Patricia Baratta, PhD, ACC, was Coach until 2024
Inderpreet (Cherry) Kaur, PhD, was Enterprise Scientific Liaison | Solutions Engineering until 2025Web traffic
Traffic mix: 44% direct, 42% search, 7% social, 0% paid.
What this company is made of
Most common skills at BenchSci: Research Skills (77), Data Analysis (74), Time Management (74), Python (Programming Language) (73), Project Management (67), Leadership (66), JavaScript (62), Microsoft Office (59).
Where the team actually sits
BenchSci people are concentrated in Ontario, Canada (82), Canada (25), Greater Toronto Area, Canada (24), British Columbia, Canada (10).
Search footprint
BenchSci attracts about 579 organic search visits a month, traffic worth roughly $0K a month if bought through ads. It gained 13 ranking keywords and lost 22 in the last period.
What employees say
- Compensation
- 2.70 / 5
- Career opportunities
- 2.00 / 5
- Senior management
- 1.80 / 5
- Work-life balance
- 2.50 / 5
Frequently asked
BenchSci has 220 employees as of September 2026.
BenchSci has raised $164M in total, most recently a Series D round in May 2023.
BenchSci was founded in 2015 by Liran Belenzon, Tom Leung, MSc PhD.
Liran Belenzon (Founder and CEO) sits at the top of BenchSci's reporting structure, with 9 direct reports.
The most common previous employers of current BenchSci staff are University of Toronto (18 people), The Hospital for Sick Children (11 people), McMaster University (7 people).
Former BenchSci employees most often move to Autodesk (4), Sanofi (4), Google (4).
At least 10 companies have a founder who previously worked at BenchSci, including Strata Capital Partners, Luvida, Matrix.
BenchSci attracts about 579 organic search visits a month, worth roughly $0K a month in equivalent ad spend.
The most common skills among BenchSci staff are Research Skills, Data Analysis, Time Management, Python (Programming Language), Project Management.
BenchSci staff are concentrated in Ontario, Canada (82), Canada (25), Greater Toronto Area, Canada (24).
BenchSci has about 80 people in Engineering, down 22% over the past year, as of September 2026.
BenchSci has about 30 people in Research, down 42% over the past year, as of September 2026.
Computed from 193 current and 263 former BenchSci profiles, as of September 2026. Source: Crustdata.
Build this for any company
Every number on this page came from the Crustdata API. Point the MCP at a company and get the same org chart, alumni list and talent flow in one prompt.