In an effort to quicken the process of discovering and creating materials and chemicals within labs, Kebotix, a technology company made up of Harvard scientists, has created the self-driving lab powered by Artificial Intelligence. The company, which has recently completed a $5 million seed round led by One Way Ventures, plans to use AI and robotics to explore, discover, and produce new molecules and materials.
Founded in 2017, Kebotix is revolutionizing the $800 billion global market, with the technology necessary to keep up with scientific advancements. Dr. Jill S. Becker, CEO and co-founder of Kebotix, explained the innovation opportunity in view of the materials discovery industry not having evolved its methods since the 18th century. Without a state of the art approach, there would be diminished abilities to tackle climate change and solve the challenges of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, water pollution, and various other issues.
In the past, machines were used to test materials, looking for any signs of variations, but with no real direction or a viable target. Now, Kebotix can shorten the research cycle from a decade to a period of months, efficiently processing complex molecular data to discover new materials or produce new chemical compounds.
“Kebotix is ushering in a new era of smart discovery for materials. We no longer need to shoot in the dark and hope for the best, but can use AI to predict and use an autonomous lab to experimentally verify new materials. This has huge implications for the health of our planet and can allow the industry to build things they previously couldn’t even imagine. We couldn’t be more excited and proud to be partnered with such an incredible team,” said Saman Farid, Partner, Head of US Team, Baidu Ventures.
