Cambridge based tech-centric drug discovery firm Nimbus Discovery has announced $24 million Series A round.

Nimbus Discovery was founded in 2009 as a novel drug discovery company by Cambridge based VC firm Atlas Venture and Schrödinger, the leader in computational drug discovery. The partnership with Schrödinger (where Nimbus co-founder Ramy Farid, PhD is President) provides the company access to exclusive rights to certain, key disease targets.

The financing was co-led by Atlas Venture here in Boston, SR One (the corporate VC arm of GlaxoSmithKline), and Lilly Ventures. Bill Gates, another previous investor in the company, also participated in the round.

“We are delighted to have the support of SR One and Lilly Ventures,” said Bruce Booth, Chairman and Co-founder of Nimbus. “Their investment recognizes the extraordinary progress that Nimbus has made with its platform including the discovery of highly selective IRAK4 inhibitors with potent in vivo activity.”

Nimbus uses cutting edge computational technology to drive medicinal discoveries for previously inaccessible disease targets. The company says the financing will be used to speed the go-to-market ramp and potential of the company’s existing programs, such as for inhibitors for inflammation, cancer and metabolic disease (called IRAK4 and ACC). According to the company’s overview, “Nimbus has already delivered selective, potent, and differentiated compounds within the first year for two disease targets that are pivotal in the progression of an aggressive form of Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma and obesity, respectively.” The company will also use the financing to expand its drug discovery pipeline to target other medical conditions and therapeutic applications.

SR One Partner Kent Gossett, MD, PhD and Lilly Ventures’ Venture Partner Steve Hall, PhD have joined the Nimbus Board of Directors in association with the financing. Gossett and Hall join an existing Board that includes Atlas Venture Partner and Nimbus co-foudner Bruce Booth, PhD, former President of Vertex Vicki Sato, and Nimbus’ cofounder Ramy Farid, PhD.

“We are excited by the advances that Nimbus has made in unlocking previously intractable targets. We believe that the Nimbus approach can deliver medicines that will transform the treatment of serious disease,” Gossett shared in the announcement.