Cambridge-based artificial intelligence startup CuspAI has raised $450 million in a Series B funding round, valuing the company at $2.6 billion. The fresh capital will allow the company to accelerate its growth and expand operations across the United States, Asia-Pacific (APAC), and Europe as it advances its AI-driven materials discovery platform.
- Founded in 2024 by Chad Edwards and Max Welling, CuspAI develops artificial intelligence systems designed to accelerate the discovery and development of new materials.
- The company combines AI models, scientific data, computational tools, and laboratory validation to help researchers design materials with specific properties for applications including semiconductors, energy storage, climate technologies, and advanced manufacturing.
- CuspAI’s platform uses AI to identify potential materials, simulate their properties, and guide the synthesis and testing process, reducing the traditional trial-and-error approach that has long shaped materials research.
- Through its AI Materials Foundry, the company connects industrial partners, research laboratories, data providers, and technology companies to create faster feedback loops between material design, computation, and real-world testing.
- The AI Materials Foundry has brought together a network of more than 45 partners, including major technology and industrial companies such as NVIDIA, Meta, Samsung, Hyundai Motor Group, Applied Materials, Tokyo Electron, and Lam Research.
Funding details
- The $450 million Series B was supported by Kleiner Perkins and NEA, which co-led the round, alongside Bezos Expeditions, Glade Brook Capital Partners, Lux Capital, AMD Ventures, Tru Arrow Partners, StepStone, Britain’s Sovereign AI Venture Fund, Invest-NL, and John Doerr.
- Existing investors including Temasek, Basis Set Ventures, Giant Ventures, Touring Capital, Prosus, Phoenix Court, and Northzone also participated in the round.
Dr Chad Edwards and Prof Max Welling, Co-founders of CuspAI, said: “The opportunity in front of us has never been more urgent, or more exciting. New materials can unlock performance, sustainability and new solutions to existing intractable problems. The world simply can’t make the progress it needs to with known materials, that much is clear. We appreciate the support of everyone who’s on this journey with us.”
