The modern method of inventing new materials is to make something and then use a computer to find out whether the material turned out well. But what if you turn that around and use generative AI-driven software to design the material in the first place? That’s the premise behind Cambridge, UK-based CuspAI, which has now raised $30 million in a seed round led by Hoxton Ventures, with significant participation from Basis Set Ventures and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
As co-founder and CEO Chad Edwards put it, “We’re turning the old process on its head and saying, ‘If you can put materials or molecules in there and get properties out of them, why can’t you put properties in them? and obtain materials and molecules?’”
The market is dominated by players such as Schrodinger (listed on NASDAQ) and Dassault Systemes, both of which provide software tools for performing computational chemistry and materials simulations.
Newer on the block is Orbital Materialsm, from part of the team behind Google’s Deepmind, which has an AI-powered platform that can be used to discover materials ranging from batteries to carbon dioxide-capturing cells. It recently raised $16 million in a Series A.
“Just as search engines made the Internet possible, we believe we are on the cusp of a world where you can search the very, very large space of new materials and molecules to discover new materials that have exactly the properties you want. We think we are entering the materials-on-demand era,” he said.
The company says its platform functions as a search engine for materials, allowing rapid evaluation of a “large number of new structures.”
“Civilization has always defined itself by the materials of that time, so the Bronze Age, the Stone Age, etc. We think we deal with the materials on demand,” he added.
The company only launched this year and CuspAI apparently has a lot of work to do. However, Edwards isn’t starting from scratch.
Its co-founder is Max Welling, a professor and renowned pioneer in the field of AI. He was also previously the Distinguished Scientist and VP at Microsoft Research and Qualcomm, and professor at the University of Amsterdam. “Our AI can generate and evaluate new materials on demand. For example, you can request a material that selectively binds carbon dioxide under specific conditions – the AI then generates, evaluates and optimizes the potential molecular structures that meet those exact criteria,” he said in a statement.
Edwards himself is a chemist who has been involved in deep-tech commercialization at Google and BASF and most recently a leader in quantum computing, Quantinuum.
Geoffrey Hinton, known as the ‘Godfather of AI’, will also serve as a board advisor.
In a statement, Hinton said: “Humanity will face many challenges in the next decade. Some will be caused by AI, while others can be solved by AI. I am very impressed with CuspAI and its mission to accelerate the design process of new materials using AI to curb one of humanity’s most pressing challenges: climate change.”
One area where CuspAI thinks AI-designed materials could have a significant impact in the near term is carbon capture and storage.
“We’re looking at designing molecular sponges that selectively absorb carbon dioxide from the air,” Edwards said. “When you heat them up, they release carbon dioxide, which you can dispose of and use, or bury underground, whatever you want.”
CuspAI is also working with Meta on its open science project to discover new materials to tackle climate change.
“The Fundamental AI Research (FAIR) team looks forward to working with CuspAI in their use of AI, including our OpenDAC work, to accelerate the discovery of new DAC sorbent materials,” said Yann Le Cun, VP and Chief AI Scientist at Meta, said in a statement. “The world needs rapid progress in affordable carbon capture, and we believe the CuspAI team is well-positioned to apply AI-based materials discovery to this pressing problem.”
Other investors in the round include LocalGlobe, Northzone, Touring Capital, Giant Ventures, FJ Labs, Tiferes Ventures and Zero Prime Ventures. Angel investors including Mehdi Ghissassi and Dorothy Chou of Deepmind also participated.