Materials decision intelligence
ChematIQs makes the material choices companies already face cheaper, faster and less risky. Our first product, Safer Materials Advisor, was built at IBM Research and has been in production there since August 2025. We are now raising our seed round.
Why now
Regulators moved from banning named chemicals to restricting whole classes. The OECD definition behind the EU's proposed PFAS restriction covers an estimated 24 million chemical structures, and 22+ US states define PFAS by structure too.
Producer exits, supply shocks and tariffs hit materials directly. 3M's exit from PFAS manufacturing left its customers searching for replacements.
Chemistry-specific models can now reason over molecular structures and messy technical documents.
The cost of not knowing
And every new rule, lawsuit or supplier exit sends teams back through the same manual work. Delays at one agency don't remove the obligation: EU, state and sector rules keep multiplying.
in PFAS settlements so far, with more than 15,000 lawsuits consolidated in US federal court
costs the industry for one US PFAS reporting rule (11.6 million hours), by the EPA's estimate
that teams of two to ten people can spend on a manual portfolio review, often without finishing
to bring a non-PFAS chip material into volume manufacturing, even when an alternative exists
Sources: public settlement announcements and Steptoe litigation review · EPA burden estimate, OMB filing 202310-2070-001 · ChematIQs customer interviews · Semiconductor PFAS Consortium, Semiconductor Industry Association, April 2023
Traction
faster review per supplier document, measured at IBM
identification accuracy on hundreds of expert-labeled documents
supplier documents in the IBM compliance database it works with
users of our open-access PFAS classifier, pfasID
About 10 users screen supplier materials across IBM's portfolio. A chemical coordinator timed her workflow at 4.3 times as productive. IBM keeps using the system as it moves to ChematIQs.
Read the case study →A leading engineering simulation and EDA software provider with more than $2B in revenue. The system caught errors manual review missed and flagged a substance not yet regulated.
Our free PFAS classifier. Google incorporated it in its restricted substances specification for supply chain screening.
Differentiation
Rising interest in PFAS and chemical risk validates the market. Nobody else combines chemistry-level identification, regulatory reasoning and hazard assessment in one enterprise product.
| Category | What they do | What they miss |
|---|---|---|
| Compliance platforms | Collect supplier declarations, track regulations and match disclosed substances against lists. Some now read SDSs with AI. | Take disclosures at face value. Can't detect what's missing, see behind trade names, apply structural definitions or assess hazards. |
| PFAS-focused start-ups | PFAS exposure screening from product and supplier data. | PFAS only. No structure-based classification, hazard assessment or alternatives. |
| AI for new molecules | Find or design new materials and replacements. | Start after the problem is known. Potential partners rather than rivals. |
| ERP and asset management | Track parts and materials as records. | No chemical understanding. |
| ChematIQs | Reveals the full chemistry, applies structural rules, predicts hazards and future regulation. Next: recommends alternatives. | Not a system of record. Works with the one you already use. |
Our origin story
We have worked on the PFAS problem since 2022, alongside the compliance and R&D experts who deal with it every day.
With ChemFORWARD, Cornell University, Digital Science, Numat Technologies and the University of Pittsburgh, we define the problem and the solution for PFACTS.
We implement the solution, which leads to the publication of pfasID, our open-access PFAS classifier.
Safer Materials Advisor goes live in IBM's Chief Sustainability Office.
Winner of IBM's inaugural Sustainability Prize, celebrated by ringing the closing bell at the New York Stock Exchange, and covered in the US and European press.
Incorporated as a Delaware C-corp by the three founders who built the system.
We will host the open-access PFACTS tools, including pfasID.
First pilots and licenses. Safer alternatives in early access later in the year.
Safer alternatives in the Plus tier. SOC 2 Type II for enterprise procurement.
First modules for sourcing, circularity and resilience.
Why it's good business
Class-based restrictions decide what can be sold where.
$14B+ in PFAS settlements, and more than 15,000 lawsuits pending.
Materials not at risk don't disappear overnight.
Underwriters are starting to price chemical exposure.
Customers increasingly choose safer products, and a safer portfolio protects their trust.
Annual licenses in four tiers, priced by the compounds covered, users and capabilities. Add-ons for custom models, jurisdictions, workflows and on-premises deployment raise contract value without adding much delivery cost.
We have a working product, a team that has already deployed it, and a head start. Our deck, financial model and data room are available on request.