Materials Nexus
4 known investors
MatNex (Materials Nexus) is a materials design company that uses first-principles computation, machine learning, and materials engineering to design new materials to customer-defined performance and cost specifications, then owns and licenses the resulting material IP. Its first focus is rare-earth-free magnets for industrial applications such as EVs, wind turbines, and data storage, with plans to expand into fluids, semiconductors, batteries, and superconductors.
Also known as Materials Nexus · MatNex
Investors · 4
Company profile
researched Aug 2026MatNex (Materials Nexus) is a materials design company that develops new materials against performance and cost targets defined by its customers, with stability and manufacturability treated as design constraints from the outset. Rather than relying on experimental trial-and-error discovery, it combines first-principles computation, machine learning, and materials engineering to produce validated material IP intended for industrial deployment, following a sequence of design, validation, protection, deployment, and scale-up.
The company's initial application area is rare-earth-free magnetics, aimed at reducing dependence on rare-earth elements in magnets used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, data storage, refrigeration, electronics, and other industrial systems. The company frames magnets as the first application of a broader design platform, with stated intent to address other constrained material systems including fluids, semiconductors, batteries, and superconductors.
The team spans materials science, AI systems, first-principles modelling, laboratory validation, manufacturing readiness, IP strategy, programme delivery, and commercial functions, and includes roughly two dozen named staff across scientific computing, machine learning, software engineering, product management, technical programme management, operations, finance, and talent. It is co-founded by Dr Jonathan Bean (CEO) and Dr Robert Forrest (CTO).
Business model
MatNex designs and retains ownership of the material IP it creates, licensing it for industrial use. Manufacturing partners handle production scale-up while customers deploy the materials into their industrial systems. Each customer programme is intended to add further licensable material IP as well as data, validation workflows, qualification knowledge, and commercial experience.
Revenue is described as coming from development fees, milestone payments, and royalties tied to deployment of the licensed materials.
Latest developments
MatNex's current programme focus is replacing rare-earth dependence in magnets, with stated plans to extend the platform to fluids, semiconductors, batteries, and superconductors.
▸Full profile — market position, technology, go-to-market
Market position
The company positions itself as a critical materials design company addressing rare-earth supply chains it describes as expensive, volatile, and strategically constrained.
MatNex contrasts its specification-driven, computation- and machine-learning-led design process with slower trial-and-error materials discovery, and retains ownership of the resulting protectable material IP rather than manufacturing itself.
Technology
The design approach couples first-principles computation and machine learning with materials engineering and laboratory validation, targeting candidate materials that meet defined performance, cost, stability, and manufacturability requirements before industrial qualification.
Go-to-market
Customers specify performance and cost targets, MatNex runs design programmes against them, and resulting materials are licensed for deployment while manufacturing partners provide production capacity.
Advanced industrial companies requiring materials that do not currently exist, initially those using permanent magnets in electric vehicles, wind turbines, data storage, refrigeration, electronics, and industrial systems.
Compiled by commissioned research from 1 cited public sources — announcements, filings, and press listed under research sources below.
Key figures
latest reportedCompany-reported or press-reported figures, each dated to when it was claimed — not independently audited.
▸Research sources · 1
primary sources listed
- Materials Nexusmaterialsnexus.com · web
1 public sources were cited for this profile; the first-party ones are listed here.
Frequently asked questions
- What does Materials Nexus do?
- MatNex designs new industrial materials to customer specifications, starting with rare-earth-free magnets.
- Who are Materials Nexus's investors?
- Materials Nexus's investors include Carbon13, ETCapital, MD One Ventures, Samos Investments.