Materials engineering company Immaterial raises £13.5m led by SLB and AP Ventures
This article covers a Series A2 round on 24 October 2025 for Immaterial, a Cambridge-based materials engineering company developing monolithic metal-organic frameworks (m-MOFs) for industrial decarbonisation, founded by Mohammed Khan and Professor David Fairen-Jimenez. The company raised £13.5m in a round led by SLB with participation from AP Ventures.
What does Immaterial do?
Monolithic metal-organic frameworks (m-MOFs) are dense, macroscopic materials produced for industrial separation and storage applications. They provide high adsorption capacity and mechanical stability for carbon capture, gas storage, and compact industrial reactors.
Why is Immaterial useful?
Problem
Industrial companies face high costs and large equipment footprints when current sorbents are used for carbon capture and storage. Conventional MOF powders are fragile, hard to scale, and fail thermal and chemical demands in industrial environments.
Solution
Immaterial explains that it turns fragile MOF powders into monolithic, ultra-dense structures that retain high adsorption capacity. These stable m-MOFs reduce reactor and storage size, lowering capital and operating costs for industrial carbon capture and gas storage.
How much did Immaterial raise?
Immaterial raised £13.5m ($18.2m) in a Series A2 round, led by SLB with participation from AP Ventures alongside existing backers. This makes it the 14th largest funding round in October 2025 (72 recorded). The deal is also 141st among UK investments this year (544 recorded) in the Startupmag database, as of 24 October 2025.
For details on how Startupmag compiles its rankings, view our Methodology.
Who invested in Immaterial?
The key investors in the round included the following:
- SLB: The corporate venture arm of an energy services group investing in energy and industrial technologies with a focus on decarbonisation and operational solutions.
- AP Ventures: A venture firm that invests in advanced materials and technologies for clean energy and sustainable industrial applications.
- Moeve: A venture capital firm backing deep-tech and industrial-technology companies at growth and scaling stages.
- Finindus: An industrial investment firm focused on supporting manufacturing and engineering businesses as they scale.
- Jogchum Brinksma: Angel investor and long-time backer, serving as Immaterial’s chairman.
In the funding announcement, Arindam Bhattacharya from SLB said:
Proves out the platform’s capacity for engineering m-MOF-based solutions across multiple industrial applications.
If you're researching potential backers in this space:
- Explore our list of materials venture capital firms in the UK
- Browse our directory of materials angel investors in the UK
Who founded Immaterial?
The founders of Immaterial are Professor David Fairen-Jimenez and Mohammed Khan.
In the funding announcement, Mohammed Khan, CEO of Immaterial explained:
an economic transformation
In the funding announcement, Professor David Fairen-Jimenez, Chief Scientific Officer and founder of Immaterial said:
It's a special moment to see these materials evolve from pure academic concepts to industrially viable products that tackle climate change.
Where is Immaterial based?
Immaterial is based in Cambridge, UK.
What sector is Immaterial in?
Immaterial operates in the Materials sector. The sector develops and supplies advanced materials used in industry and manufacturing processes.
Key trends and challenges in Materials:
AI-driven materials discovery
Machine learning speeds up design and testing of materials like metal-organic frameworks for carbon capture.
Scaling manufacturing and supply chains
Making tonnes of advanced materials cheaply remains hard, limiting industrial adoption for applications like hydrogen storage.
Proving long-term stability and regeneration efficiency
Materials must show stable performance over thousands of cycles under heat, pressure, and chemicals.
For a deeper look at innovation in this space, see the materials startups in the UK.
They've invested in Immaterial
Get to know these materials investors
| Investor | Sector | Stage | Activity | Team | Connect |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 SLB | 2 investment(s) investment(s) | more info | |||
 AP Ventures | 2 investment(s) investment(s) | more info |
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