Molecular Forecaster
Molecular Forecaster Inc. is a Montreal-based, McGill University spinout that builds and licenses the FORECASTER computer-aided drug design platform for preclinical small molecule discovery, serving biotech startups, established pharma, CROs, and academic institutions with software and tailored CADD research services.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2019
- HeadquartersMontréal, Canada
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Molecular Forecaster does
Molecular Forecaster Inc. (MFI) is a Montreal-based private company founded in 2019 as a spinout of 15 years of computational chemistry research at McGill University. The company develops and commercializes the FORECASTER platform, a suite of computer-aided drug design (CADD) software modules for preclinical small molecule drug discovery — including FITTED (structure-based molecular docking with covalent and metalloenzyme expertise), IMPACTS (Cytochrome P450 metabolic liability prediction across seven CYP isoforms), REACT2D (virtual library design), SMART (molecular preparation and ADMET profiling), SELECT (similarity and clustering), PROCESS/PREPARE (protein preparation), ACE (transition state optimization), QUEMIST (quantum mechanics), and the recently published pKaLearn ML pKa prediction model. The platform integrates biophysics with machine learning models that encode explicit chemistry knowledge rather than relying solely on data-driven fingerprints, distinguishing its ML architecture from black-box approaches.
MFI monetizes through two streams: (1) industry site-based multi-year software licenses sold at set package prices with maintenance and support included and unlimited users per site, alongside free academic licenses available with professor signature, and (2) tailored CADD research services delivered through collaborative, multi-phase projects covering structure-based drug design, molecular dynamics, cheminformatics, and quantum mechanics. The MFI+ ecosystem extends service delivery through strategic partnerships with NMX Research and Solutions (biophysics/NMR), Oxeltis (medicinal chemistry synthesis, France), and TransBIOTech (in vitro/in vivo studies, Canada). Customers span early-stage biotechs, established pharma, CROs, academic institutions, accelerators (including adMare Bioinnovations), and government entities (MIT Lincoln Laboratory, DoD-funded projects). Notable disclosed engagements include nanomolar compound outcomes in a Department of Defense project with Alchem Laboratories, a 5,000+ molecule curated dataset for Congruence Therapeutics, and advancing to Round 2 in the CACHE Challenge #6 for SETDB1 inhibitors.
The company employs approximately 10-20 staff including scientists, software developers, students, and interns as of 2025-2026, with leadership drawn from McGill University (CEO Josh Pottel, CSO Nicolas Moitessier). The company has not publicly disclosed external funding rounds, is privately held, and operates globally through direct sales and partner referrals.
Molecular Forecaster firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Molecular Forecaster
- Legal name
- Molecular Forecaster Inc.
- Website
- https://molecularforecaster.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2019
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Molecular Forecaster Inc. is a Montreal-based, McGill University spinout that builds and licenses the FORECASTER computer-aided drug design platform for preclinical small molecule discovery, serving biotech startups, established pharma, CROs, and academic institutions with software and tailored CADD research services.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Molecular Forecaster industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Drug Discovery Software
- NAICS
- Research and Development in Biotechnology (except Nanobiotechnology) (541714), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)
- SIC
- Services-Commercial Physical & Biological Research (8731)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Cheminformatics & Molecular Modeling / CADD (HLAGAJAE)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization (HLAGAJAO)
Keywords
Where Molecular Forecaster is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Montréal
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Molecular Forecaster business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure
Revenue model
- Software Licensing: Industry licenses sold as one or multi-year licenses at set package price with patch maintenance and support included. Site-based licenses for unlimited users at every location with no tokens or usage limits. Academic licenses provided free of charge with professor signature.
- Research Services: Computer-aided drug design (CADD) services including structure-based drug design, molecular dynamics, machine learning, cheminformatics, and quantum mechanics. Services are tailored to client research objectives with collaborative project management.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Annual | Academic licensing - free for educational institutions |
| One time/ perpetual license | Multi-year contract | Industry licensing - commercial software packages |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Molecular Forecaster product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Molecular Forecaster develops and sells the FORECASTER software platform, a chemistry-driven computational drug design suite used for preclinical small molecule drug discovery. The platform integrates biophysics and machine learning across modules for molecular docking, metabolic liability prediction, virtual library design, and ADMET profiling. The company also provides tailored computer-aided drug design (CADD) research services and extends capabilities through the MFI+ partner network.
Product overview
Molecular Forecaster offers the FORECASTER software platform — a suite of chemistry-driven predictive tools for small molecule drug discovery. The platform consists of multiple integrated modules: FITTED (structure-based molecular docking), IMPACTS (Cytochrome P450 metabolic liability prediction), REACT2D (virtual library design), SMART (molecular preparation/property calculation), SELECT (similarity/clustering), PROCESS/PREPARE (protein preparation), CONVERT (format conversion/optimization), ACE (transition state optimization), QUEMIST (quantum mechanics), FINDERS (substructure search), MATCH-UP (protein superposition), REDUCE (filtering), and SPLASH'EM (nucleic acid preparation). The MFI+ ecosystem extends capabilities through partnerships with NMX (biophysics/NMR), Oxeltis (medicinal chemistry), and TransBIOTech (in vitro/in vivo studies). Services include tailored CADD consulting from hit discovery through lead optimization.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- FORECASTER Platform: Innovative software platform for computer-aided drug design (CADD) including FITTED for structure-based drug design, REACT2D for virtual library design and cheminformatics, and IMPACTS for metabolic liability prediction.
- MFI+
- pKaLearn
Quantifiable outcome
- pKaLearn achieved MAE of 0.59, outperforming competitors
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Molecular Forecaster
Customer profileNamed customers11 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Molecular Forecaster technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability6 records
Feature6 records
Molecular Forecaster partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Eight partnerships are on record, tiered secondary and core.
- HTuO BiosciencessecondaryCollaboration for high-throughput molecular dynamics rescoring and affinity ranking in CACHE Challenge #6 for SETDB1 inhibitor discovery.
- TransBIOTechcoreStrategic partnership to bridge computational and experimental work by combining MFI's CADD services with TransBIOTech's in vitro and in vivo capabilities. Located in Montreal and Lévis, Canada.
- OxeltiscoreStrategic collaboration to enhance drug design and synthesis capabilities. MFI's computational offerings combined with Oxeltis' wet lab-based medicinal chemistry design and synthesis services in Montpellier, France.
- NMX Research and SolutionscorePartnership expanding service offerings of both companies. Combines MFI's modeling and CADD solutions with NMX's expertise in fragment-based screening, NMR, and biophysics.
- McGill University (D2R Project)secondaryMFI participates in $165-million CFREF grant awarded to McGill for 'DNA to RNA: An Inclusive Canadian Approach to Genomic-based RNA Therapeutics (D2R)' project.
- McGill UniversitycoreSpinout company originating from 15 years of research at McGill University. Ongoing research collaboration including pKaLearn development with McGill researchers.
- adMare BioinnovationscorePart of inaugural Accelerate Quebec Program within adMare Bioinnovations Center in Montréal. Ongoing collaboration complementing internal R&D with computational chemistry capabilities.
- NVIDIA Inception ProgramsecondaryMember of NVIDIA Inception Program for startups, providing access to GPU computing resources and technology partnerships.
Scale indicators4 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Molecular Forecaster competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Schrödinger: Public computational chemistry and molecular simulation platform provider offering LiveDesign, Glide docking and FEP+ — directly comparable to MFI's FORECASTER/FITTED for structure-based drug design, but at vastly larger scale and with broader platform scope.
- Certara: Public drug development software and services company spanning DMPK/ADMET prediction, PBPK modeling and regulatory science — comparable to MFI's IMPACTS (CYP metabolism) and broader ADMET workflow but operating at much larger scale across the full drug-development lifecycle.
- BIOVIA (Dassault Systèmes): Enterprise scientific platform including BIOVIA Discovery Studio for molecular modeling, docking, pharmacophore and ADMET — comparable functionality to MFI but bundled inside Dassault's broader 3DEXPERIENCE platform and sold to large pharma.
Emerging players
- Cyclica: Toronto-based AI-driven polypharmacology and drug design platform serving similar small-molecule discovery use cases as MFI; comparable buyer profile (biotechs, CROs, academic spinouts) and overlapping AI-for-CADD value proposition.
- Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD): Provides CDD Vault database and visualization platform used by academic and industrial drug-discovery teams to manage SAR, screening and ADMET data — adjacent to MFI's cheminformatics/SELECT tooling with overlapping academic-biotech buyer base.
Direct peers
- BioSolveIT: German cheminformatics vendor offering SeeSAR (interactive docking), infiniSee (ultra-large chemical space search), and FTrees — directly overlapping with MFI's FITTED docking and REACT2D virtual library capabilities for pharma and academic medicinal chemistry buyers.
- Cresset: UK-based provider of ligand-based and structure-based CADD software (Flare, Spark) and discovery services — comparable to MFI as a mid-sized specialist offering both computational tools and collaborative drug-design consulting for small-molecule programs.
- ACD/Labs (Advanced Chemistry Development): Provider of physicochemical property prediction, pKa calculator, ADMET predictor and NMR/LC-MS analytical software — comparable to MFI's pKaLearn and SMART/REDUCE ADMET modules for medicinal chemistry and analytical workflows.
- Chemical Computing Group (CCG): Developer of MOE (Molecular Operating Environment), a long-established integrated CADD platform with docking, virtual screening, pharmacophore and QSAR tools — competing head-to-head with FORECASTER in academic and industrial computational chemistry labs.
- OpenEye Scientific (Cadence Design Systems): Provides molecular modeling, docking (FRED, POSIT), cheminformatics and ADC design tools (GALAXY) used across pharma discovery — overlapping with MFI's FITTED docking, SELECT similarity, and REACT2D virtual library capabilities for the same small-molecule CADD buyer.
Market position
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Molecular Forecaster social profiles
Digital presenceMolecular Forecaster financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Molecular Forecaster leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Molecular Forecaster funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Molecular Forecaster M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Molecular Forecaster
What does Molecular Forecaster do?
Molecular Forecaster develops and sells the FORECASTER software platform, a chemistry-driven computational drug design suite used for preclinical small molecule drug discovery. The platform integrates biophysics and machine learning across modules for molecular docking, metabolic liability prediction, virtual library design, and ADMET profiling. The company also provides tailored computer-aided drug design (CADD) research services and extends capabilities through the MFI+ partner network.
Is Molecular Forecaster a public or private company?
Molecular Forecaster is a private company. It is classified as founder individual operated bootstrapped and is currently operating.
When was Molecular Forecaster founded?
Molecular Forecaster was founded in 2019. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Molecular Forecaster based?
Molecular Forecaster is headquartered in Montréal, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Molecular Forecaster make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Software Licensing is the primary driver. The others are research Services.
Who are Molecular Forecaster's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Schrödinger, Certara and BIOVIA (Dassault Systèmes). Emerging players are Cyclica and Collaborative Drug Discovery (CDD). Direct peers are BioSolveIT, Cresset, ACD/Labs (Advanced Chemistry Development), Chemical Computing Group (CCG) and OpenEye Scientific (Cadence Design Systems).
Does Molecular Forecaster have an API?
No public API is recorded for Molecular Forecaster.
What industry is Molecular Forecaster in?
Molecular Forecaster's product category is Drug Discovery Software. Its primary akta.pro industry code is HLAGAJAE, Cheminformatics & Molecular Modeling / CADD, with a secondary code of HLAGAJAO, AI/ML Platforms for Drug Discovery & Experiment Optimization. Its NAICS code is 541714 and its SIC code is 8731.