Materials Nexus, a deep tech company specialising in AI and quantum mechanics, announced the successful completion of a £2 million seed funding round. The round was led by Ada Ventures, with participation from National Security specialists MD One Ventures, the University of Cambridge, and angel investors Andrew MacKay and Jasmin Thomas.
Headquartered in the U.K., Materials Nexus aims to advance net-zero technologies, particularly in renewable energy generation and energy storage, by enhancing performance and sustainability while reducing costs.
The company’s CEO and co-founder, Jonathan Bean, a theoretical physicist from the University of Cambridge, and his team have dedicated the past two years to developing an AI model that minimises the reliance on physical tests to discover new materials. This approach allowed them to create their datasets and algorithms, significantly accelerating the discovery process and enabling faster market deployment of new products. Materials Nexus collaborates with businesses of all sizes to identify materials that can be patented, with future plans to establish a facility for material production and supply to larger companies, including equipment manufacturers.
With the funds raised, the company aims to expand its commercial and scientific operations while demonstrating the efficacy of its technology. Their goal is to identify alternative materials for products like semiconductors and batteries, facilitating the rapid and sustainable scaling of innovations like wind turbines and electric vehicles. Despite the competitive landscape in the AI space, Bean expressed his satisfaction with the fundraising efforts.
Bean initiated the capital search in October 2022 and successfully secured a term sheet within five months. Matt Penneycard, a co-founding partner at Ada Ventures, praised Jonathan as a remarkable technical founder and company leader, emphasising the potential role of Materials Nexus in the fight against climate change and addressing the world’s dependence on rare earth elements and unique metal compounds.
