Altrove raises $10M for AI material alternatives

Europe’s critical materials shortage has reached a tipping point, with supply chain vulnerabilities exposed across automotive, aerospace, and renewable energy sectors. Against this backdrop, Altrove, the Paris-based startup leveraging artificial intelligence to design alternatives to critical materials, has secured $10 million in seed funding led by Alven.

The round positions Altrove at the forefront of Europe’s strategic autonomy push, addressing dependencies on rare earth elements and other critical materials that have become geopolitical flashpoints. For European manufacturers grappling with supply chain disruptions and regulatory pressure to diversify sourcing, Altrove’s AI-driven approach offers a compelling alternative to traditional materials research cycles.

AI material alternatives funding attracts European deep tech investors

Alven’s investment thesis centres on Europe’s urgent need for materials innovation, particularly as the continent races to build resilient supply chains for its green transition. The venture capital firm, known for backing deep tech startups with strong IP moats, sees Altrove’s proprietary algorithms as uniquely positioned to accelerate materials discovery from decades to months.

“We were impressed by Altrove’s pragmatic approach to solving an engineering problem: starting with a clearly identified problem at an industrial partner’s company and working backwards to finding the right material,” explains Bartosz Jakubowski, partner at Alven. “We believe that customer centricity paired with AI and an agile lab workflow is a winning recipe in an industry that is usually dominated by pure scale and slow innovation.”

The funding round included participation from Bpifrance’s Digital Venture fund, along with existing investors Contrarian Ventures and Emblem, bringing Altrove’s total funding to $14 million following a $4 million pre-seed round in July 2024. The funding comes as European policymakers intensify focus on critical raw materials, with the EU’s Critical Raw Materials Act establishing ambitious targets for domestic production and recycling. Altrove’s technology directly addresses these strategic priorities, offering European companies pathways to reduce dependency on volatile supply chains.

Paris startup targets European manufacturing resilience

Altrove’s platform combines machine learning with automated lab synthesis to predict material properties, enabling rapid identification of alternatives to scarce elements like lithium, cobalt, and rare earth metals. The company has already demonstrated success in automotive applications, developing rare-earth-free and cobalt-free magnetic materials for high-performance motors while maintaining energy density specifications.

Founded in early 2024 by Thibaud Martin and Dr. Joonatan Laulainen through Entrepreneurs First, Altrove has built partnerships with over a dozen major players across automotive, energy, and heavy industry. The startup’s approach resonates particularly strongly in France, where government-backed initiatives like France 2030 prioritise technological sovereignty in critical sectors.

“Western nations cannot afford to be dependent on imports for the very materials that power electrification,” notes Altrove CEO Thibaud Martin. “Our AI enables manufacturers to innovate their way out of supply chain vulnerabilities whilst maintaining competitive performance. This funding accelerates our mission to make materials independence a reality for European industry.”

The company’s CTO, Dr. Joonatan Laulainen, who holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, adds: “Our technology ensures that our AI-designed materials consume the resources we want them to consume, without dependence on other nations’ resources.”

The $10 million will fund expansion of Altrove’s automated synthesis and characterisation laboratories, recruit additional AI and materials science talent, and push breakthrough materials to market at industrial scale. The company plans to reach kilo-scale production of AI-designed materials within the next two years, with first products expected to launch within that timeframe.

Beyond magnetic materials, Altrove has achieved technical milestones in developing non-toxic, lead-free compounds for sensors and actuators. The startup aims to establish partnerships with additional European research institutions, positioning itself as a key player in Europe’s quest for materials resilience.

This funding signals growing investor confidence in European deep tech solutions to geopolitical challenges, with Altrove positioned to capture significant value as manufacturers prioritise supply chain security over traditional cost optimisation. Pre-existing investors include Entrepreneurs First and notable angels including Thomas Clozel (Owkin CEO), Julien Chaumond (Hugging Face CTO), Thomas Plantenga (Vinted founder), and Michal Valko (former principal engineer at Meta).