French Startup, Altrove, Secures $10 Million for Development of AI-Created Substitutes for Critical Materials
Paris-based deeptech startup, Altrove, has secured $10 million in seed funding to ramp up its production of AI-created, sustainable substitutes for key materials, including rare earths. Led by Alven and backed by Bpifrance’s Digital Venture fund, Contrarian Ventures, and Emblem, this round brings Altrove’s total investment to $14 million. Previous supporters include Entrepreneurs First and angel investors including Julien Chaumond (Hugging Face), Michal Valko (formerly of Meta), among others.
Established in 2024 by co-founder and CEO Thibaud Martin and co-founder and CTO, Dr. Joonatan Laulainen, Altrove intends to use the funds to grow its laboratory resources, hire new staff, and scale up production from small samples to industrial quantities within two years. Altrove currently benefits from a remarkable group of AI researchers and materials scientists, whose experience spans Cambridge, MIT, and École Polytechnique.
The company’s focus is on developing materials predicted by AI to lessen Europe’s dependence on imported resources and boost industrial independence. Unlike other AI materials projects that only identify theoretical compounds, Altrove is able to quickly create and validate new materials. Altrove’s unique platform integrates artificial intelligence, automated laboratory synthesis, and adaptive characterization tools to create a feedback loop that enables discoveries up to 100 times faster than traditional R&D, delivering results in weeks rather than years.
Martin commented, “Western countries cannot risk relying on imports for vital materials needed for electrification.” Altrove has made significant technical progress, including the creation of high-performance magnetic materials free of rare earths and cobalt, and non-toxic, lead-free compounds for sensors and actuators. So far, the company has established over a dozen partnerships with leading companies in automotive, energy, and heavy industry, and expects its first products will hit the market within two years. Laulainen added, “Our technology makes sure our AI-designed materials use only the resources we choose, removing dependency on foreign supplies.”