alqem raises 8 million euros

The search for new materials is one of the greatest challenges facing modern industrial societies. Whether it’s electric mobility, the energy transition, or defense technologies, many key industries rely on materials that are both high-performance and strategically available. The Munich-based deep-tech startup alqem aims to drastically accelerate the development of such materials using artificial intelligence and has now secured eight million euros in pre-seed funding for this purpose.

The funding round is co-led by UVC Partners and the U.S. venture capital investor Union Square Ventures. Founded as recently as 2026, the company is developing an AI platform designed to fundamentally accelerate the discovery and commercialization of novel high-performance materials.

Drastic Cycle Reduction

The development of new materials is traditionally considered a lengthy and cost-intensive process. Decades often pass between scientific discovery and industrial application. alqem aims to drastically shorten this timeframe with the help of artificial intelligence and automated research. To achieve this, the company combines several technological components: its own database of potentially stable crystalline compounds (“al-mine”), specialized training datasets for material properties (“al-oracle”), and its own laboratory infrastructure for synthesis and experimental validation.

The goal is to no longer discover new materials by chance or through lengthy research processes, but rather to systematically predict them, confirm them experimentally, and rapidly translate them into industrial applications.

Strategic Focus on Rare Earths

The first concrete area of application also addresses one of the greatest geopolitical challenges of modern industrial policy: high-performance magnets without rare earths.

Currently, about 90 percent of the high-performance permanent magnets produced worldwide come from China. At the same time, these materials are considered indispensable for electric motors, wind turbines, and numerous industrial applications.

According to the company, alqem has already identified several promising material candidates and experimentally validated their predicted properties. In doing so, the startup is addressing not only a technological challenge but also issues of strategic raw material and supply chain security.

Scientific Excellence Meets Entrepreneurship

Behind alqem is an interdisciplinary founding team drawn from academia and industry. CEO Dr. Hanh Nguyen brings experience from companies such as McKinsey, Unilever, and OCI Global. CTO Dr. Tiago Cerqueira was involved, among other things, in the development of the open-access materials database Alexandria. The founding team is rounded out by Prof. Milan Allan, holder of the Chair of Experimental Physics at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich.

The company is also supported by renowned scientists from research institutions such as the Max Planck Society, Ruhr University Bochum, and international universities in Portugal.

European Materials Research as a Strategic Competitive Advantage

Investors see alqem as much more than a traditional AI startup. Advanced materials are increasingly regarded as a key strategic technology for Europe’s competitiveness—from the energy transition and mobility to security-related technologies.

The combination of AI, materials science, and industrial application could usher in a fundamental transformation in the development of new materials. Instead of decades-long research cycles, data-driven models and automated laboratories could significantly accelerate the pace of materials development in the future.

With this recently completed round of funding, alqem plans to further expand its platform, create additional research capacity, and expand its locations in Munich and Coimbra. The key question will be whether Europe can play a leading role in the future—not only in the application of artificial intelligence but also in the development of materials for the technologies of tomorrow.