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Atinary Technologies cofounders Dr. Hermann Tribukait (left) and Dr. Loïc Roch (right). Image credit: Atinary Technologies
Atinary Technologies cofounders Dr. Hermann Tribukait (left) and Dr. Loïc Roch (right). Image credit: Atinary Technologies

Why we invested in Atinary Technologies: A glimpse into the future of chemistry R&D

October 3, 2023

Manuel Gonzalez is a partner at AgFunder, the parent company of AgFunderNews. AgFunder recently led a $5m seed round into Atinary Technologies, a startup using machine learning to dramatically accelerate the materials discovery process.

While listening to a keynote by NYU professor and podcaster, Scott Galloway, I was struck by one of his ideas: the most impactful and valuable companies are in fact time machines, reshaping our understanding of what’s possible when time’s ticking away.

The evolution of time machines in tech

Computers are time machines, and they have gone through various iterations:

  • Hardware and software: Reduced manual, time-consuming tasks.
  • The internet: Gave us the world at our fingertips, anytime, anywhere.
  • Mobile computing: Made information and connectivity ubiquitous, always, on-the-go.
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI): Set to redefine our understanding of time efficiency.

In each iteration people save time, reduce mindless, manual tasks, and increase the amount of time allocated to think and be creative. At the heart of this evolution, I recently stumbled upon what felt like the new time machine: Atinary Technologies.

A serendipitous introduction

Meeting Dr. Hermann Tribukait, one of Atinary’s founders, was initially a casual lunch in Menlo Park, California. The twist? It was meant to be just a social interaction, as we are both from Mexico.

However, when Hermann began explaining Atinary’s mission, I was captivated. The company’s description resonate deeply with Galloway’s concept of a time machine.

Revolutionizing chemistry R&D

Established in 2019, and founded by Tribukait and Dr. Loïc Roch, Atinary is a Swiss-American SaaS-based deeptech startup that aims to transform chemistry R&D. Its no-code machine learning (ML) platform streamlines research, optimization, and discovery processes in chemistry, accelerating progress by an astonishing 10X to 100X. This isn’t just a leap forward for chemistry, but it paves the way for advancements across various scientific domains.

To grasp Atinary’s disruptive potential, one need look no further than a recent paper by ETH Zurich. The results were staggering:

  • Objective: Optimization of catalysts for converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into methanol.
  • Approach: A closed-loop data-driven methodology utilizing Atinary’s Bayesian Optimization algorithm.
  • Outcome: In just 30 days, they replicated major development stages that traditionally spanned a century.

To put it bluntly: Atinary condensed 100 years of research into a single month.

A visionary investment

This is the kind of breakthrough that reshapes industries, and it’s precisely why we chose to invest in Atinary.

In a world where time remains our most precious commodity, Atinary offers a glimpse into a future where we’re not just keeping pace but leaping forward. This isn’t just a time machine; it’s the dawn of a new era in scientific discovery.

Further reading:

AgFunder leads $5m seed round for ML-powered Atinary Technologies to turbocharge R&D process

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