Northern Gritstone invests £1.1 million into University of Liverpool spinout Matter Machine
The £4 million pre-series A funding round has a ‘golden’ investor including IP Group, LYVA Labs and Parkwalk’s NUPF
Northern Gritstone has made an £1.1 million investment into Matter Machine, an AI-driven materials discovery company led by Gordon Sanghera, the former CEO of Oxford Nanopore.
The oversubscribed £4 million pre-series A round was led by IP Group plc and supported by Northern Gritstone alongside the University of Liverpool Enterprise Fund and a syndicate of leading investors including Norrsken Evolve, LYVA Labs and the Northern Universities Venture Fund managed by Parkwalk, IP Group’s EIS fund management business.
This also marks Northern Gritstone’s first investment into a University of Liverpool spinout, since announcing its multi-year partnership agreement with the University. The funding, the largest investment secured by a newly formed University of Liverpool spinout, will support the expansion of Matter Machine's technical and commercial team, further development of its technology expertise led, AI-powered discovery platform and engagement with commercial partners across multiple sectors.
Matter Machine is developing AI-powered materials discovery technologies designed to dramatically accelerate the identification and optimisation of novel materials, reducing the time and cost of innovation across industries, and addressing the societal needs in energy and sustainability over the next decade. The company combines world-leading expertise in materials chemistry, automated experimentation and machine learning to create a new approach to materials discovery.
As part of the company's growth strategy, Dr Gordon Sanghera CBE, co-founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Oxford Nanopore Technologies plc, has joined Matter Machine to lead its commercialisation strategy. Dr Sanghera helped build Oxford Nanopore from inception through to its £3.4bn London Stock Exchange listing and brings extensive experience in scaling deep-technology businesses.
Dr Gordon Sanghera CBE said: "Materials innovation underpins progress across multiple sectors from energy to manufacturing and electronics. Matter Machine brings together exceptional scientific expertise, unique technology capabilities and a highly scalable commercial opportunity. I am excited to lead the company's development and growth."
Professor Matt Rosseinsky OBE FRS, Founder of Matter Machine, said: "The combination of advanced materials science and artificial intelligence creates a powerful opportunity to transform how new materials are discovered. Matter Machine has been established to unlock that potential, enabling faster innovation and delivering materials that can support advances across a wide range of industries."
Matter Machine is headquartered at the University of Liverpool's Materials Innovation Factory, a globally recognised centre for materials research and industrial collaboration. The company also contributes to the AI Materials Hub for Innovation (AIM-HI) program, which is helping position the Liverpool City Region and the UK as a global leader in AI-enabled materials research and innovation.