Apoha Secures $36M to Advance Liquid State Intelligence Platform

Apoha, a UK-based deeptech company, has exited stealth mode after raising $36 million to pursue its vision of "Liquid State Intelligence"—a new data-driven approach to understanding molecular behaviour under real-world conditions. The funding round was led by Singular and included participation from Draper Associates, Redalpine, Seedcamp, Wilbe, Nucleus, and Innovate UK.

For decades, scientists have relied on molecular sequence and structural data to understand chemicals and biological compounds. However, how molecules behave—their dynamic responses in realistic environments—has remained challenging to assess at scale. This knowledge gap contributes to significant uncertainty in industries from pharmaceuticals, where drugs may enter trials with incomplete behavioural data, to food and materials science, where new products can behave unpredictably in the market.

Apoha's platform creates a new empirical data layer that records how substances interact, adapt, and function in various environments. The company calls this new class of information Liquid State Intelligence, positioning it as a third pillar of molecular science alongside sequence and structure. By building extensive datasets on molecular behaviour, Apoha aims to accelerate scientific discovery, support AI-driven reasoning and prediction, and inform the development of new medicines, foods, and materials.

Founder and CEO Shamit Shrivastava began foundational research in 2008, exploring the physics of how molecules interact at liquid interfaces—a question left open in the internationally recognized Hodgkin-Huxley model. His discoveries have since received significant scientific recognition, including being named one of Scientific American's "13 Discoveries That Could Change Everything" in 2018.

Co-founded by Shrivastava and COO Anshika Srivastava in 2021, Apoha now holds over 60 patents across hardware, software, data, and AI models related to molecular behaviour analysis.

The company's first commercial offering is VIBE® (Variations in Inter-facial Behaviour Under Excitation), which delivers a comprehensive empirical readout of a molecule, material, or formulation's behaviour when subjected to real-world stressors. Using minute sample quantities, the system suspends the sample in liquid, applies controlled stimuli, and captures wave patterns that serve as more than 1,000 behavioural descriptors recorded in real time. According to Apoha, this level of analysis allows quick and precise identification of high-risk molecules or formulations, streamlining R&D processes and reducing costly failures.

VIBE® is already in use commercially. Joint research with Boehringer Ingelheim reportedly achieved over 90% precision in identifying high-risk antibody candidates from as little as 8 micrograms of material. Apoha also partners with Ethris in Germany to improve predictions of how lipid nanoparticles function in animals and has supported plant-based food firm THIS in rapidly optimizing product formulations.

According to CEO Shamit Shrivastava, "Liquid State Intelligence took 15 years of science and 5 years of company-building to bring to life. There is no shortcut to this data class—it cannot be scraped from the internet, synthesised, or retrofitted from existing assays. It has to be measured."

Raffi Kamber, Co-Founder and General Partner at lead investor Singular, said that Apoha represents "a new generation of European scientific companies where AI is not a future promise, but a practical tool already transforming how biology is done."

Apoha will use the new funding to further develop and scale its Liquid State Intelligence platform, aiming to establish its approach as a foundational technology for AI and R&D initiatives in pharmaceuticals, food, and advanced materials.

Reference: tech.eu