(Reuters) – SandboxAQ said on Wednesday it has raised more than $300 million in funding, valuing the startup spun off from Alphabet at $5.3 billion, as it aims to fast-track the development of advanced artificial intelligence systems for computation.

This follows a $500 million fundraising last year to help customers prepare for a quantum computing future.

The new funding was raised to “accelerate the development of its large quantitative models (LQMs) and other AI applications in drug discovery, materials science, chemistry, cybersecurity, navigation and medical devices”, the company said.

LQMs are advanced AI systems, designed to offer a way to simulate and predict complex science and business problems for large industries.

Existing and new investors, including Fred Alger Management, T. Rowe Price Associates, Parkway Venture Capital, Breyer Capital, US Innovative Technology Fund, Ava Investments and IQT, participated in the funding round.

SandboxAQ was spun off from Alphabet as an independent startup in 2022, with Jack Hidary as its CEO and former Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt as chairman. The company caters to various sectors such as cybersecurity, encryption and life sciences.

(Reporting by Priyanka.G in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)