Newfound Materials Information

Newfound Materials is the design engine for making new materials. We build physics-based AI models that predict how a material forms, then test those predictions in our own lab. The result is a recipe for a new material that scales on standard industrial equipment, so it can move from the lab to production quickly. Our first focus is permanent magnets. Rare-earth magnets power electric vehicles, robots, drones, and defense systems, and nearly all are made outside of the United States. We are designing rare-earth-free and rare-earth-lean magnet materials that meet industry performance needs, and we partner with magnet makers to bring them to market. ARPA-E funds our magnet work in part through its MAGNITO program. The same engine applies wherever a new material is hard to make: semiconductors, batteries, catalysts, ceramics, and beyond. Newfound was founded in 2024 by Matt McDermott, a co-developer of the A-Lab autonomous laboratory at UC Berkeley, and builds on years of published research in predictive materials synthesis.