London-based AI startup Inherent has raised $50 million in a funding round led by Index Ventures, with participation from Radical Ventures, the company announced today. The startup, founded by former DeepMind researchers and AI specialists, aims to develop an AI platform called Faraday to advance what it terms “AI-native science” (sifted.eu).
Inherent’s founding team includes Tantum Collins, Edward Hughes, Louis Kirsch, and Kaloyan Aleksiev, who bring experience from DeepMind, Reka AI, and Microsoft. The Faraday platform is designed to integrate human scientific research with advanced AI systems to generate new inventions and innovations. The company’s approach focuses on enabling AI to identify which scientific questions are worth pursuing, addressing a gap in current AI capabilities highlighted by Danny Rimer, partner at Index Ventures (sifted.eu).
The funding round underscores growing investor interest in AI-driven scientific discovery, a sector gaining momentum as AI tools increasingly support research and development. Inherent’s emphasis on open-ended scientific inquiry differentiates it from AI applications that primarily answer predefined questions. This approach aligns with broader trends in AI research seeking to enhance creativity and innovation through machine learning, positioning Inherent alongside other startups exploring AI’s role in transforming scientific processes (sifted.eu).
Looking ahead, Inherent plans to use the new capital to further develop its Faraday platform and expand its team. The company will likely focus on scaling its technology to tackle complex scientific challenges and foster collaborations that blend AI with human expertise. Observers will watch how Inherent’s AI-native science approach evolves and impacts scientific research in the coming months (sifted.eu).