Imperial expert leads science at £2 billion AI materials company CuspAI

A UK-based AI materials company co-led by an Imperial materials scientist has raised £330 million at a £2 billion valuation to accelerate the discovery of new materials.

Professor Aron Walsh, Chair in Materials Design in Imperial College London’s Department of Materials, said his role at CuspAI is helping translate advances in materials research into industrial applications. 

While my research at Imperial pushes forward the frontier of methods and open-source tools, my work at CuspAI lets me translate advances in the field into industrial-scale impact. Professor Aron Walsh Chair in Materials Design, Department of Materials, Imperial

“While my research at Imperial pushes forward the frontier of methods and open-source tools, my work at CuspAI lets me translate advances in the field into industrial-scale impact,” said Professor Walsh. 

AI-driven approaches are helping reduce the time needed to discover and develop new materials, opening new possibilities for tackling some of humanity’s most pressing challenges, including sustainable energy, healthcare and advanced technologies.

Professor Walsh joined CuspAI as Chief Scientific Officer in January 2026 where he is supporting the company’s scientific strategy and helping expand its work in AI for materials across areas including energy technologies and electronics. CuspAI has also attracted talent from across Imperial, including Dr Austin Mroz (Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Chemistry) and researchers and students from the Department of Materials, including Dr Lucas Garcia-Verga (Research Associate), Irea Mosquera Lois (PhD student), and Ryan Nduma (undergraduate student).

The appointment comes as CuspAI has secured new investment from Jeff Bezos and the UK government’s sovereign AI fund, and has launched the AI Materials Foundry, a global network bringing together data, laboratories, computing resources and scientific expertise to take AI-designed materials from generative design through to industrial deployment. 

The network includes more than 45 founding members and draws on expertise from organisations including NVIDIA, Meta Platforms and the Henry Royce Institute, the UK's national institute for advanced materials research and innovation, of which Imperial is a founding partner. 

Using AI to accelerate materials discovery 

Professor Walsh’s research at Imperial focuses on computational approaches and artificial intelligence to understand, predict and design materials with specific properties. He leads the Materials Design Group, where he and his team explore how materials can be designed for applications across areas including energy technologies and electronics. His research has contributed to advances in areas including solar cells, batteries, thermoelectrics and solid-state lighting.

There is a transformation happening in materials science, where AI now lets us design a material for a target property and validate it experimentally within months rather than years. Professor Aron Walsh Chair in Materials Design, Department of Materials, Imperial

Alongside his research, Professor Walsh is co-lead of AI4Science programme, with researchers from Imperial and A*STAR in Singapore, developing a cloud-based AI platform accelerate the discovery of next-generation catalysts.  

Discussing the potential of AI in materials discovery, Professor Walsh said: “There is a transformation happening in materials science, where AI now lets us design a material for a target property and validate it experimentally within months rather than years.”  

Professor Walsh will continue his research at Imperial alongside his role at CuspAI, bringing together academic research and industrial application in the evolving field of AI-driven materials discovery.