Albert Raises $22.5M and Launches Breakthrough™ — AI Built for Chemists

OAKLAND, Calif. — December 10, 2024 — Albert Invent, whose end-to-end R&D platform accelerates chemical innovation in materials science using AI, today announced a $22.5 million Series A funding round led by Coatue, with participation from TCV, Index Ventures, F-Prime, and Homebrew.

As part of the announcement, the company also introduced Albert Breakthrough™, the first-ever AI solution built specifically for chemists. Albert Breakthrough combines centralized, structured data with specialized, user-friendly AI to optimize complex experiments, predict molecular properties, and generate novel formulations. As a core component of Albert's end-to-end platform, Breakthrough marks a paradigm shift in material science innovation, enabling chemical companies to develop new products with unprecedented speed and performance.

The news builds on the company’s momentum over the last six months, in which it added customers like Chemours, Solenis, Keystone Industries, and Applied Molecules. Additionally, Henkel and Nouryon have expanded their relationship with Albert Invent. Now, thousands of scientists around the world leverage Albert’s solution to accelerate innovation and get products to market faster.

The capital will be used to expand the engineering team, enhance the platform's capabilities, and scale operations to meet growing demand.

“As the foundation from which research and development stems, scientific labs demand constant modernization to keep pace with our evolving world,” said David Schneider, General Partner at Coatue. “It is exciting to support Albert as the company seeks to transform how chemistry research is performed by implementing the latest AI technology for greater efficiencies and overall business benefit. We’ve been impressed by the overwhelmingly positive response to Albert’s solutions for labs around the world and we are looking forward to supporting Albert as it launches Breakthrough.”

A Breakthrough in Chemical R&D
‍Albert's unified data model structures and centralizes data across entire organizations, pulling in all historical data on past experiments. Breakthrough uses this data to fuel its advanced machine learning models, which continuously learn and evolve. Breakthrough offers an intuitive interface where chemists and AI collaborate seamlessly. By leveraging its deep understanding of molecular-level data, Breakthrough assists scientists in generating experimental suggestions, predicting molecular properties, and optimizing formulations. This powerful synergy between human expertise and machine intelligence has the potential to significantly accelerate chemical R&D.

Breakthrough's key features include:‍

Molecular Predictions: Generate real-time property and toxicology predictions for drawn chemical structures, outperforming standard industry models.
Structure Search: Identify exact matches or similar structures based on drawn chemicals, utilizing advanced similarity modeling techniques.
Inverse Design: Create formulations to meet specific targets, leveraging comprehensive regulatory intelligence and molecular property predictions.
Active Learning: Test predicted formulas seamlessly within the Albert platform, allowing models to evolve and improve predictions with new data.
SKU Rationalization: Identify similar or duplicate formulations efficiently across your organization, streamlining product portfolios.
Model Explainability: Access detailed insights into prediction rationales, including influential ingredients, chemical fingerprints, and parameters, along with overall model accuracy.

"For too long, advanced machine learning techniques have only been accessible to data scientists," said Nick Talken, CEO and Co-founder of Albert Invent. "With Breakthrough, we're putting this power directly in the hands of thousands of chemists. Now, it's easier than ever for them to develop the materials that shape our lives."

Nicholas Gripp, a Senior Chemist at Applied Molecules, reported, "Breakthrough has shown impressive results in our initial tests. The formulas it proposed have been promising, and we're excited to see how it will streamline our formulation process. We believe this technology has the potential to significantly accelerate our innovation efforts."

“Albert has become integral to our product development, and as we continue to roll out Albert to our scientists amongst all the technologies we are working in, we are confident in our timelines accelerating within these markets,” said Johan Landfors, Chief Technology Officer at Nouryon. “With the addition of Breakthrough, our scientists will have the opportunity to develop with the collective intelligence of our past experiments, and we expect to further accelerate our innovation cycles.”

For additional details on Albert Breakthrough, visit www.albertinvent.com

About Albert Invent
‍Albert Invent's mission is to accelerate materials science innovation. Our cloud-based platform, designed specifically for chemistry and materials science, empowers thousands of scientists across 30+ countries to work faster and smarter in the lab. By providing intuitive digital workflows for entire teams, Albert unifies experimental data, streamlines complex R&D and regulatory processes, and delivers AI-driven insights. This unique end-to-end solution dramatically speeds up innovation cycles and time-to-market for industry-leading companies worldwide. Founded by chemists and backed by top-tier investors including Coatue, TCV, Index Ventures, F-Prime, and Homebrew, Albert Invent is based in Oakland, California. Discover how we're accelerating materials science at www.albertinvent.com

Media Contact
‍Chelsea Allison
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