London-based AI startup Polaron has raised $8m to expand its materials science platform. The Imperial College spinout uses machine learning to analyze microstructures and predict performance, with EV battery applications already delivering over 10% energy density improvements.
Polaron, a London-based artificial intelligence startup, has secured $8m in funding to expand its materials science platform, which is already being used by EV manufacturers responsible for more than a third of global EV production.
The company, spun out from Imperial College London after seven years of research, has developed technology that uses AI to analyze microscopy images and predict how materials will perform based on their microstructure. One application supporting battery electrode design has delivered energy density improvements exceeding 10%.
The funding round was led by Racine2, an impact-focused fund led by Serena and Makesense, with participation from Speedinvest and Futurepresent, along with angel investors from the industrial AI sector.
Polaron plans to use the capital to grow its engineering team, accelerate the rollout of its generative design tools, and meet demand from customers in automotive and energy sectors.
“For 150 years, industry has used machines to shape materials. Now, we are teaching machines to understand them,” says Isaac Squires, chief executive and co-founder of Polaron. “Polaron is building an intelligence layer powered by the world’s materials data for faster discovery, better design and a new generation of advanced materials.”
The platform addresses a persistent challenge in materials manufacturing: understanding the relationship between how materials are processed and how they perform. Traditional approaches rely on manual analysis, isolated tools, and trial and error.
Polaron’s system automates material characterization, reducing what the company describes as thousands of hours of manual analysis to minutes. The platform can generate three-dimensional reconstructions from two-dimensional images and identify complex microstructural features.
According to Alix Trébaol, investor at Serena: “In materials, AI is commoditizing atomistic discovery. The winners will be the ones who can predict real-world industrial manufacturability. No one but Polaron knows how to do this today.”
Florian Obst, principal investor with Speedinvest’s AI and infrastructure team, adds: “What impressed us about Polaron is its focus on the point where materials innovation often breaks down: translating scientific insight into manufacturable reality.”
The company was co-founded by Squires alongside chief technology officer Steve Kench and chief scientist Sam Cooper.
