Ex-DeepMind Researchers Raise $50M for AI Science Startup Inherent
A London-based artificial intelligence lab founded by former DeepMind researchers has raised $50 million to reshape how scientific discovery works. The Inherent AI funding round, led by Index Ventures with participation from Radical Ventures, marks one of the more ambitious AI bets in Europe this year.
Inherent was co-founded by Tantum Collins, Edward Hughes, and Louis Kirsch all alumni of Google’s DeepMind alongside Kaloyan Aleksiev, who previously worked at AI startup Reka AI and Microsoft. The team is building what they describe as “AI-native science,” a model that blends human scientific intuition with advanced AI systems to generate novel discoveries rather than simply answer predefined questions.
The Platform Aiming to Ask Better Questions
At the core of Inherent’s approach is a platform called Faraday, named after the pioneering English physicist Michael Faraday. The goal is not to replace human researchers but to help science ask the kinds of open-ended questions that have historically produced breakthroughs.
Danny Rimer, partner at Index Ventures, captured the vision sharply. He noted that most AI is built to answer questions, but what it lacks is the curiosity that led to discoveries like penicillin, the microwave, and the GPU and that is precisely the gap the Inherent AI funding round is designed to close.
Adding weight to the launch, former UK government AI adviser Matt Clifford has joined as an adviser. Collins also brings rare crossover experience, having contributed to AI policy work at the Biden White House after his time at DeepMind.
With early hires focused on technical AI safety and democratic applications of AI, Inherent is positioning itself at the intersection of frontier science and responsible innovation a space few startups dare to enter.
