Ampersand has secured a major $80 million Series A round, positioning itself as one of the most significant deep-tech companies to watch in 2025. The round was led by Walden Catalyst Ventures, Temasek, Industry Ventures, Acclimate Ventures, and several others including Xora Innovation, Material Impact, TDK Ventures, and Foothill Ventures - a powerful coalition of investors signaling confidence in Ampersand’s breakthrough materials platform.

Founded by Brian D., Anshuman T., Sriram Vaisambhayana, and Gil Jr Opina, Ampersand is building next-generation materials designed for extreme performance - materials capable of redefining durability, energy efficiency, reliability, and environmental impact across multiple industries. From aerospace to semiconductors, renewable energy to advanced manufacturing, Ampersand’s technology unlocks a new class of engineered materials with properties traditional manufacturing can’t match.

This is not incremental improvement. Ampersand is working at the intersection of computational design, advanced chemistry, and precision manufacturing to create materials that enable entirely new industrial capabilities.

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Why Materials Science Is Entering a New Golden Age

Every major industrial revolution has been defined by a breakthrough in materials: steel, plastics, silicon. Today, the next wave is unfolding - computationally engineered materials that combine nanoscale precision with large-scale manufacturability.

Industry data shows:

• The global advanced materials market is projected to hit $400B by 2030, growing at ~6–7% CAGR.
  
• Demand for next-generation materials in EV batteries and semiconductors is rising 20–30% annually.
  
• Aerospace and defense sectors are actively seeking materials that reduce weight while increasing heat tolerance - requirements traditional materials can’t meet.
  
• More than 60% of manufacturing leaders say materials limitations are the primary bottleneck slowing innovation.
  

Ampersand is attacking this bottleneck directly, offering materials that withstand extreme temperatures, high-stress environments, and performance requirements that would break conventional composites.

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What Ampersand Actually Builds

Ampersand develops engineered materials using a sophisticated blend of advanced chemistry, AI-assisted molecular design, precision thermal processing, and high-tolerance manufacturing workflows. Together, these capabilities allow the company to create materials that can withstand extreme thermal stress, maintain mechanical integrity at elevated performance thresholds, reduce energy loss in high-power systems, and extend the operational lifespan of components that operate in demanding environments. 

These innovations aren’t theoretical - they directly impact sectors already hungry for more robust materials. In semiconductors, Ampersand’s materials support better heat dissipation and long-term stability. In energy storage, they provide improved resistance under heavy electrical and thermal load. 

Aerospace applications benefit from lighter, stronger, and more stress-tolerant structures, while robotics and industrial manufacturing gain components that last longer and perform more reliably. Instead of functioning as a single material supplier, Ampersand is building a scalable engine capable of designing and commercializing new materials across multiple industries.

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The Insight: Materials That Become Infrastructure

What makes Ampersand’s model so powerful is how quickly new materials begin to influence entire systems once they gain adoption. When a high-performance material becomes embedded into manufacturing lines or energy infrastructure, it sets off a cascading impact - supply chains adapt to the new standard, engineers design next-generation products around its capabilities, cost efficiencies grow as usage scales, and the performance baseline of entire industries shifts upward. 

This is where Ampersand’s real strategic strength emerges: not from one-off wins, but from becoming the foundational layer other technologies rely on. For founders watching the deep-tech space, the lesson is clear. Breakthrough materials rarely compete at the surface level. 

They redefine what industries consider possible. And once a material becomes entrenched in mission-critical systems, switching to an alternative becomes nearly impossible. That long-term embeddedness, not the novelty of innovation, is where true defensibility is created.

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Why Investors Are Pouring Into This Space Now

The race for better materials has intensified, driven by macro trends:

• Semiconductor heat density has doubled roughly every 2–3 years, straining conventional materials.
  
• EV battery failures related to thermal runaway highlight a growing need for more stable chemical frameworks.
  
• Renewable energy systems demand materials that can withstand long-term exposure while maintaining efficiency.
  
• Aerospace and defense sectors require materials that outperform traditional alloys by wide margins.
  

Add to that the accelerating computational materials revolution, where AI drastically reduces the time needed to model, test, and validate new material combinations - something that once took years now takes weeks.

This convergence puts Ampersand in the ideal position: a deep-tech company at the exact moment industry demand, AI tooling, and manufacturing capability have aligned.

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What’s Next for Ampersand

With the $80M Series A, Ampersand will be able to:

• scale production capacity for its flagship materials
  
• expand R&D programs into semiconductors, energy storage, and defense
  
• build deeper partnerships with manufacturers and OEMs
  
• accelerate testing cycles for next-gen engineered materials
  
• grow its team across chemistry, engineering, and computational modeling
  

The long-term mission is clear:
Establish Ampersand as the foundational materials engine powering the next wave of industrial and technological breakthroughs.