UK-based CuspAI secures €85M+ to accelerate AI-driven materials innovation

The round was co-led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and Temasek, with support from NVentures (NVIDIA’s VC arm), Samsung Ventures, Hyundai Motor Group, and several returning investors. Other participants include Basis Set Ventures, FJ Labs, Giant Ventures, LocalGlobe, Northzone, Prosus Ventures, Tiferes Ventures, and Touring Capital.

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Notable angel investors also joined the round, such as Durk Kingma (OpenAI Co-Founder), Zoubin Ghahramani (VP Research, Google DeepMind), Arash Ferdowsi (Dropbox Founder), Thomas Wolf (Hugging Face Founder), and Victor Riparbelli (Founder & CEO of Synthesia).

CuspAI CEO and Co-founder Chad Edwards said: “Next-generation AI compute, clean air and water and sustainable energy – these multi-billion-dollar global challenges share a common barrier: materials. CuspAI’s mission is to change that. In just a year, we’ve gone from concept to partnerships with world leaders in automotive, semiconductors, energy, and climate.

“This funding allows us to scale our platform and deliver transformative materials to market faster. We’re grateful for the support of our investors, and the strategic backing from our customers as we accelerate into our next phase of our growth.”

CuspAI was founded in 2024 by Dr. Chad Edwards, a chemist-turned-DeepTech entrepreneur who helped scale quantum computing unicorn Quantinuum, and Prof. Max Welling, an AI pioneer who previously served as a Distinguished Scientist at Microsoft Research and VP of Technology at Qualcomm.

The company is pioneering the use of frontier AI to discover breakthrough materials that can drive human progress. By combining generative AI with molecular and physics-based simulations, CuspAI can design and validate new materials in months instead of decades.

Its platform works like a search engine for materials – customers can specify the properties they need, and the system generates new, synthesis-ready candidates up to 10 times faster than traditional methods.

Lila Tretikov, Partner and Head of AI Strategy at NEA and former Deputy CTO at Microsoft, who will join the CuspAI board, said: “AI’s most profound promise emerges when it moves beyond the everyday and becomes a catalyst for discovery, deepening our command of chemistry, biology, and physics, and accelerating the design of materials that redefine what is possible.

“CuspAI harnessed this power to shutter long-accepted engineering limits, enabling breakthroughs across industries that can elevate the quality of life for generations to come in months rather than decades.”

In its first year, the company has built strong partnerships across multiple industries, including:

• Hyundai: A new collaboration focused on sustainable energy solutions
• Kemira: The Helsinki-based, NASDAQ-listed chemicals company, to develop PFAS removal technologies
• Meta: Working together on carbon capture, including the world’s largest direct air capture (DAC) database, ODAC25
• More to come: Additional partnerships are in progress, including in the semiconductor sector

Brooke Seawell, NEA Venture Partner said: “AI isn’t just promising a revolution in materials science, it’s already delivering one. By decoding the complexity of our material world, it’s starting to unlock breakthroughs from climate mitigation to faster, more efficient compute. With their unique approach and bold vision, the CuspAI team is well-positioned in this transformative space and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

To accelerate its fast-growing commercialisation, CuspAI is adding two globally renowned leaders to its advisory board:

• Martin van den Brink – former President and CTO of ASML
• Lord John Browne – former BP CEO, Chair of the Francis Crick Institute, and current Chair of the UK Government’s Council for Science and Technology

They will join existing advisors Prof. Geoffrey Hinton, Prof. Yann LeCun, Prof. Kristin Persson, and Verity Harding.

This announcement follows CuspAI’s €25.5 million Seed round (reported by EU-Startups) and comes alongside its Series A raise. With fresh funding, CuspAI plans to expand globally, scaling operations in the US and Asia to meet rising customer demand.

About CuspAI

CuspAI is an AI company advancing materials science by accelerating the discovery and development of new materials. Its platform combines generative AI, deep learning, and molecular simulations to design and evaluate novel material structures with targeted properties. By cutting the time to breakthroughs, CuspAI streamlines R&D and speeds up commercialisation.