Quantistry – Shaping the Future of Materials

Reducing our carbon footprint while staying economically on top is one of the main challenges of our time. There are solutions available: Wind and solar energy offer cheap and clean energy; electric cars can help to restore the air quality in our cities. Yet renewable energies are intermittent in nature, and electric cars are expensive. Both problems can be solved in one go, if cheaper and more powerful batteries are available. To get there, we need to use our computational arsenal to achieve significant improvement.

The German Startup Quantistry has set itself out to tackle that challenge. In today’s interview with CEO and Co-Founder Marcel Quennet we learn how to develop the next generation of materials for the usage in energy storage.

Who are You and Why did You Found Quantistry?

I’m Marcel, and I did my PhD in quantum chemistry on novel solar cell materials. After my PhD, I worked in different roles in the IT sector, and co-founded a venture builder with the goal of creating deep tech ventures for a sustainable future. As part of this, I co-founded Quantistry at the end of 2019 to significantly accelerate the development of next-gen materials. These materials can be used in various applications, for example in the field of energy storage in the form of batteries, but also in areas such as energy generation.

At Quantistry, we provide companies with a holistic solution to in silico predict and design materials, enabling the development of next-generation products like batteries. The idea comes from our university days where we saw significant added value of digital predictions in chemistry and materials science. Still, this technology has not yet fully reached industry on every level due to high entry barriers, which we are successfully breaking down with Quantistry. Our solution provides companies with quick and easy access to the technology and can thus save significant time and R&D costs.

What is Your Product?

Our product is called QuantistryLab. QuantistryLab is an AI-powered platform for chemical and materials R&D. With our platform, any company can easily use cutting-edge technologies like AI and upcoming quantum computing to design, optimize and discover new materials for various applications. Instead of directly going to the lab, our clients use our solution to predict outcomes of lab experiments and thus drastically reduce R&D costs and time needed.

Over the years, we have worked with multiple global leaders on different use cases. Among others, we have worked in the area of energy storage, i.e., batteries; in the semiconductor sector; in the area of polymers for sustainable plastics; and alloys for energy generation – to name a few. We started working with clients from day one, which allowed us to deeply understand industrial R&D problems. Along these collaborations, we have developed our technology in a very customer-centric way. Startups often tend to take the opposite approach and ask themselves: I have this amazing technology – what problems can I solve with it? In our own experience, this can be a difficult approach.

We focus on the energy sector, where we have several customers in the field of energy generation and storage like in batteries. In a battery, a strong innovation potential lies at the material level, for example in better anode or cathode materials. There are multiple optimization possibilities, and over time, we have perfected our know-how in this and other areas. There is a huge potential for innovation: We are good at packaging battery cells in Europe. But we need to go deeper on a material level to unlock the next-generation of batteries, which is something we have a great potential for in Europe.

What are Your Current Challenges?

Europe has faced serious challenges in the energy sector over the last years, leading to the economy performing significantly worse. This is of course something which can have an impact on startups like us. Fittingly, our solution helps alleviate this pressure for industry by reducing energy consumption in R&D.

As a startup, there are of course also other influences aside from global economic challenges: We deal with scientifically hard problems, which normally need time to be solved. Therefore, there is always a balancing act between a perfect and a pragmatic solution, which you have to weigh up day by day to solve urgent industrial problems. This can be particularly challenging with a strongly growing client base.

What are Your Future Plans?

Future plans are strongly focused on further expanding our international presence in Europe and the US. Furthermore, we are also working on expanding our portfolio in different verticals. We are currently in a scaling phase and are making excellent progress.

Whom to Contact?

Are you feeling inspired by this exciting idea and eager to explore more? Reach out to Marcel for an insightful discussion, or visit their website.

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