Scimplify raises $25M to challenge China’s grip on critical materials with AI

As manufacturers crossed industries strive to trim their reliance connected Chinese suppliers, Indian startup Scimplify has raised $25 cardinal to grow its AI-powered attack to producing specialty chemicals and captious materials, with semiconductors, defence and vigor emerging arsenic cardinal maturation markets.

The all-equity strategical circular was led by Hitachi Ventures, with customers Henkel and Teknor Apex joining arsenic caller investors. Existing backers Accel India, Bertelsmann India Investments, Omnivore, and 3one4 Capital besides participated. The circular values the Bengaluru-based startup astatine $250 cardinal aft the investment, according to a idiosyncratic acquainted with the transaction, up from $150 million aft a $40 cardinal Series B circular successful March 2025. The latest concern brings Scimplify’s full equity backing to $80 million, the startup said, though it declined to disclose its valuation.

The increasing adoption of AI and precocious computational tools has accelerated materials find and research. However, turning promising chemistry into commercially disposable products astatine standard remains a dilatory and analyzable process. Manufacturers request to make accumulation processes, suffice facilities, and conscionable stringent prime standards, each portion navigating proviso chains constricted to a fistful of countries. Scimplify is seeking to shorten that process.

In immoderate cases, the startup, founded successful 2023, has gone from receiving a customer’s requirements to delivering the finished worldly successful conscionable 2 months, compared with the 12 to 18 months specified enactment would typically take, co-founder Sachin Santhosh (pictured above) said successful an interview.

Once it receives an order, Scimplify develops chemic manufacturing processes astatine its probe facilities successful Bengaluru and Hyderabad and past transfers them to spouse factories for commercialized production. Its proprietary AI platform, Scinode, helps coordinate the enactment by identifying suitable accumulation routes and manufacturing facilities, portion tracking prime and regulatory requirements. The level uses specialized AI agents for antithetic functions, including research, manufacturing and prime control, Santhosh told TechCrunch.

“Each of these agents is fundamentally solving for what [a customer] would want, moving backward from the customer’s requirement,” Santhosh said. “This helps america determination a batch faster and retrieve lawsuit discourse adjacent for aboriginal references.”

Scimplify’s ScinodeImage Credits:Scimplify

Scimplify’s in-house squad of scientists and engineers oversees accumulation crossed a web of much than 500 manufacturing facilities. It helps customers found alternate sources for materials whose proviso is concentrated successful China and a fewer different countries.

About 90% of Scimplify’s manufacturing presently takes spot successful India. The startup, however, plans to grow its accumulation web to the U.S. and Japan implicit the adjacent twelvemonth arsenic it seeks to pull much customers successful some markets, Santhosh said.

The U.S. has emerged arsenic a cardinal maturation market, with Simplify’s annualized gross tally complaint successful the state rising sixfold to astir $60 cardinal from $10 cardinal a twelvemonth ago, according to Santhosh. The marketplace present accounts for astir 30% of its business, portion customers extracurricular India collectively lend much than fractional of its revenue, compared with little than 5% astir 18 months ago.

Overall, Scimplify, which serves much than 1,000 customers and has delivered products to much than 40 countries, has reached an annualized gross tally complaint of astir $200 million, tripling from a twelvemonth earlier, Santhosh told TechCrunch. The startup is targeting a $400 cardinal annualized gross tally complaint implicit the adjacent year. Scimplify has besides been EBITDA-positive for the past 2 months and expects to crook profitable aft taxation this month, helium said.

Energy, electronics and defence present relationship for astir 45% to 50% of Scimplify’s revenue, up from little than 15% a twelvemonth ago, Santhosh stated. The maturation comes arsenic AI fuels request for materials utilized successful electronics and vigor infrastructure, portion ongoing wars thrust request from the defence industry.

Scimplify is moving connected producing tungsten derivatives from scrap, offering customers an alternate root of materials whose proviso is heavy concentrated successful China. The startup is besides moving connected uncommon world materials, different class wherever planetary proviso chains stay heavy babelike connected China.

The startup works with customers including Japanese electronics shaper TDK, German chemicals radical BASF, and Hitachi. Santhosh cited a task involving TDK arsenic an illustration of however the startup tin shorten the clip needed to make and present specialty materials. Timelines, helium said, alteration depending connected the project.

With its latest funding, Scimplify plans to deploy astir $7.5 cardinal for its U.S. expansion, including gathering retired its manufacturing network, Santhosh said. It besides earmarked different $2 cardinal for further improvement of Scinode.

The startup employs astir 340 people, including astir 70 scientists. Most of its workforce is based successful India, though it besides has section teams successful the U.S., Japan, Indonesia, and the UAE.