- CuspAI raised £330 million ($450 million) in fresh funding, valuing the company at £1.9 billion ($2.6 billion).
- The funding round includes backing from Jeff Bezos and the UK government's sovereign AI fund.
- The startup has launched a global coalition to use AI to discover new materials for future technologies.
A Cambridge-based AI startup believes the next breakthrough in technology may not come from better software, but from discovering entirely new materials. That vision has now attracted backing from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and the UK government.
CuspAI has raised £330 million ($450 million) in a Series B funding round, giving the two-year-old company a valuation of around £1.9 billion ($2.6 billion). The investment will support its efforts to use artificial intelligence to identify materials that could improve semiconductors, batteries, energy systems and other advanced technologies.
The company says its long-term ambition is to become a "search engine for rare materials", helping scientists and manufacturers identify compounds that have yet to be discovered.
Teaching AI to discover what scientists haven't found
Finding new materials has traditionally taken years of laboratory research. CuspAI believes artificial intelligence can significantly reduce that timeline by predicting which materials could deliver the properties industries need before physical testing begins.
The company has also launched the AI Materials Foundry, a collaboration bringing together more than 48 technology companies, industrial businesses and research organisations. Members include Nvidia, Meta and Hyundai.
According to CuspAI, the initiative will focus on discovering materials that could reduce the use of scarce metals such as iridium and ruthenium in semiconductor manufacturing, while also improving batteries, energy infrastructure and carbon capture technologies.
The company said the latest funding will also support international expansion, with a new office planned in Singapore alongside growth in Cambridge, Amsterdam, Berlin, Tokyo and the US.
A growing bet on British AI
The latest investment follows a £73 million ($100 million) Series A funding round completed last year and makes CuspAI one of the UK's fastest-growing artificial intelligence startups.
The company is also the fourth recipient of investment from the UK government's sovereign AI fund, which was created to help early-stage British AI companies expand globally. The government has not disclosed the size of its investment, although the fund typically invests between £1 million and £10 million in qualifying businesses.
CuspAI has strengthened its leadership team by bringing in former Apple and Google executive John Giannandrea to help establish its US operations. It is also working with Abhi Talwalkar, a board member at AMD and chair of Lam Research.
The company's founders, Dr Chad Edwards and Professor Max Welling, reportedly said the world is approaching a point where future industrial progress could be limited by the availability of materials that have not yet been discovered. They said the company aims to combine advanced AI with scientific expertise and proprietary data to speed up that process.
Science and Technology Secretary Liz Kendall reportedly said the company's work demonstrates how artificial intelligence could help address challenges including energy security and climate change, while supporting economic growth and innovation in the UK.
