Five Startups Transforming Materials Discovery for Industrial Decarbonization

The quest for novel materials is  critical in mitigating global climate change and enabling a sustainable future. New materials are essential to develop more efficient batteries, lighter vehicles, and low-carbon alternatives to cement, steel, and other industrial inputs. 

The pursuit of materials discovery is being accelerated by recent advances in computational modeling, artificial intelligence, lab automation, and open-source scientific tools. What was once a slow, trial-and-error process is now transformed through powerful digital platforms and data-driven experimentation.

This article highlights five Climate Tech startups that are employing these tools to make  the materials discovery process faster and more efficient. Together, they are building the infrastructure for a cleaner and more innovative future.

Phasetree (Denmark)

For new materials to move from lab to market can take up to 20 years.  PhaseTree, a spinout from the Technical University of Denmark, aims to speed this up tenfold by delivering faster and more accurate predictions for sustainable materials innovation.

Founded in 2021 by Amit Luthra, Jin Chang, and Jenna Kang, PhaseTree’s material design platform combines computer simulations, AI, and lab automation to accelerate the discovery of materials for batteries, solar cells, and wind turbines. The  platform is designed to enable materials scientists and engineers model, test, and optimize new materials

PhaseTree team

What sets PhaseTree apart is its physics-led approach. By focusing on the underlying properties of materials such as composition, atomic structure, and microstructural behavior, the platform delivers reliable insights that shorten development cycles from decades to just a few years.

Researchers can simulate real-world conditions, improve performance predictions, and lower R&D costs, all within a collaborative digital environment. PhaseTree raised $3.24 million in pre-seed funding in March 2025.

Mitra Chem (USA)

Mitra Chem was founded in 2021 by former Tesla battery supply chain negotiator Vivas Kumar, materials scientist William Chueh, and researcher Chirranjeevi Gopal. They built the company with a clear mission to develop high-capacity batteries without depending on nickel and cobalt, two materials that are costly, supply-constrained, and geopolitically unstable.

The company commercializes iron-based cathode materials, which are safer, more affordable, and better suited to robust domestic supply chains. By shifting the industry toward iron-rich alternatives, Mitra Chem aims to outcompete today’s nickel-heavy batteries on both performance and reliability.

Mitra Chem lab

Mitra Chem is solving three core challenges: enabling the shift to a safer and more sustainable supply chain, building U.S.-based manufacturing capacity at scale, and reducing the lab-to-market development timeline by 10x. Its proprietary platform combines machine learning with lab automation to synthesize and screen thousands of materials per month, rapidly identifying those with the highest potential for manufacturability, safety, and performance.

While the EV sector has traditionally driven battery innovation, Mitra Chem is equally focused on the electric grid as demand for batteries in energy storage is rising at double-digit annual growth rates, driven by the global transition to clean energy. In March 2025, the company raised $15.6 million in Series B funding.

Copernic Catalysts (USA)

Ammonia is essential to modern agriculture and chemical manufacturing, yet its production accounts for over 1% of global carbon emissions, the highest for any industrial chemical. Copernic Catalysts is tackling this challenge with a new generation of catalysts designed for zero-carbon ammonia and e-fuel production.

Founded to accelerate the decarbonization of bulk chemicals, Copernic is reengineering how catalysts are designed. The company’s proprietary platform integrates density functional theory (DFT), machine learning, and AI to understand catalytic behavior at the atomic level and redesign materials that dramatically lower the energy requirements of industrial chemical processes.

Its first catalyst, now under testing by one of the world’s largest ammonia producers, promises to reduce the temperature and pressure needed for ammonia synthesis making zero-carbon ammonia economically viable. Crucially, Copernic’s catalysts are compatible with existing production infrastructure, enabling faster deployment and industry adoption without costly retrofitting.

Dr. Jacob Grose, co-founder and CEO, and  Dr. Aruna Ramkrishnan, co-founder and CTO of Copernic Catalysts

Beyond ammonia, Copernic has identified a broad pipeline of industrial catalysts that can be redesigned for a post-fossil-fuel era. The platform’s long-term potential lies in enabling scalable, cost-competitive alternatives to carbon-intensive chemical production while supporting hard-to-decarbonize sectors such as agriculture and maritime shipping.

With an $80 billion global ammonia market in urgent need of clean solutions, Copernic’s approach merges cutting-edge computational materials science with real-world industrial application. The company raised $8 million in Seed funding in November 2024.

Fairmat (France)

Carbon fiber composites which are prized for their strength, lightness, and durability are widely used in aerospace, automotives, and wind energy. Though these materials have helped advance decarbonization, they pose a growing waste problem. It is estimated that 138 million tons of carbon fiber could end up in landfills over the next 50 years. French startup Fairmat is addressing this gap with a high-performance recycling solution that gives carbon composites a second life.

Founded in 2020 by Benjamin Saada, Fairmat emerged from a recognition that advanced materials, once discarded, still hold immense value. Saada, an industrial design engineer, saw how scraps from high-performance manufacturing were routinely incinerated or buried which motivated him to find a solution.

Fairmat Founder and CEO, Ben Saada 

Fairmat has developed an automated, AI-driven recycling platform that processes expired, end-of-life, and production scrap carbon fiber composites. Using robotics and digital twins, Fairmat transforms this waste into engineered chips, which are reconstituted into laminates and semi-finished parts. These recycled materials rival virgin composites in performance, while dramatically reducing environmental impact.

The Nantes-based company has signed partnerships with 15 industrial manufacturers, covering more than 35% of Europe’s carbon fiber composite waste. It’s also working with over 30 product companies incorporating Fairmat’s materials into sporting goods, energy equipment, mobility components, and electronics. Fairmat raised $29.77 million in Series B funding in April 2025.

NobleAI (USA)

NobleAI accelerates product development in the chemicals, materials, and energy sectors by fusing scientific principles with machine learning to streamline R&D and boost productivity. Unlike conventional AI models trained solely on statistical correlations, NobleAI’s approach integrates physics, chemistry, and domain-specific knowledge with machine learning to deliver accurate predictions. Its cloud-based Visualizations, Insights and Predictions (VIP) platform allows scientists and engineers to simulate and refine material designs virtually, cutting down the need for costly and time-consuming lab experiments.

NobleAI is trusted by global leaders across chemicals and energy to improve material formulations, replace hazardous ingredients, and accelerate innovation pipelines. Its new Risk Assessment and Ingredient Replacement (RAIR) solution lets companies assess entire product portfolios against regulatory and safety lists to identify safer and viable substitutes in minutes rather than months. This not only accelerates compliance but also supports companies in meeting sustainability goals and market demands. The company raised $10 million in Series A funding in April 2024. 

Noble AI team

Conclusion 

Together, these startups illustrate how the convergence of AI, automation, and advanced computation is fundamentally reshaping the process of materials discovery. By reducing the time and cost needed to develop novel materials, they are expanding what’s possible across batteries and catalysts to circular manufacturing and safer chemicals.

This new wave of innovation is enabling more sustainable, scalable, and resilient supply chains. As materials science becomes increasingly digitized, collaborative, and data-driven, it holds the potential to unlock solutions to some of the world’s most urgent technological and environmental challenges.

The next article in our Materials Discovery series explores the investment trends fueling this momentum examining where capital is flowing, which regions are emerging as innovation hubs, and the breakthrough technologies capturing investor attention.