Matter Machine raises £4M to speed up AI materials discovery
What's the deal? Matter MachineDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a University of Liverpool spin-out using AI to discover new materials, has raised £4 million (about $5.3 million) in a Series A round led by IP GroupDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. The oversubscribed round also drew Northern GritstoneDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, the University of LiverpoolDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Norrsken EvolveDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, LYVA LabsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and the Northern Universities Venture Fund, managed by IP Group's ParkwalkDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →.
What's the endgame? The company combines materials chemistry, automated experimentation, and machine learning to identify and optimise inorganic crystalline materials faster and cheaper. IP Group says the approach could speed up innovation across batteries, catalysts, and advanced manufacturing.
Where the money goes: The funding will expand Matter Machine's technical and commercial teams, develop its discovery platform, and fund work with commercial partners across sectors. It is the largest investment secured by a newly formed University of Liverpool spin-out, the company said.
Key hire: Gordon Sanghera, co-founder and former chief executive of Oxford Nanopore Technologies, has joined to lead Matter Machine's commercialisation strategy. He built Oxford Nanopore from inception to a £3.4 billion London listing — a company IP Group backed with seed funding in 2005.
Why now? IP Group CEO Greg Smith framed the deal as uniting "two exceptional forces in British innovation" — the university's materials research and Sanghera's track record. Earlier this month, IP Group sold 10 million Oxford Nanopore shares for £21 million, retaining a stake of about 7.2%.
The signal: Pairing a proven deeptech operator with university research is a familiar playbook for turning lab science into companies. For IP Group, Matter Machine is a bet that AI-led materials discovery can follow the same path that made Oxford Nanopore a return.
Read more: morningstar.com, growthplatform.org
Image credit: Ion Chibzii
