Zeon invests in Chemify to cut compound synthesis time using AI and robotics

Zeon is a Japanese company that makes elastomers, polymers and specialty materials. Working through its VC wing Zeon Ventures, the company has allocated $50 million (€42 million) to invest in startups in areas including human health. The focus has led Zeon Ventures to invest in startups including Glyphic Biotechnologies, a California-based company developing a protein sequencing platform.

Scotland’s Chemify is the latest company to secure investment from Zeon Ventures. The company has developed Chemputation, a platform that uses AI and robotics to digitize and accelerate small-molecule production. Zeon said the technology can access novel chemical space and potentially cut the time from initial conception to compound synthesis 10-fold.

Chemify will use its platform to design and make novel compounds and materials for Zeon. The Japanese company framed its use of Chemify’s platform as part of its history of adopting digital chemical research technologies. Zeon plans to accelerate its digital chemistry initiatives in alliance with Chemify.

Chemify’s expanding automated chemistry network

The startup raised a $50 million Series B round in October, adding to the $43 million Series A round it closed in 2023. Supported by Innovate UK and Scottish Enterprise, Chemify opened a £12 million (€14 million), 21,500-square-foot automated chemistry site in Scotland last year. At the facility, Chemify has paired AI-driven molecule design and robotic synthesis to speed the discovery of drugs and materials.

Chemify is using money from the Series B round, which was co-led by Wing Venture Capital and Insight Partners, to build a network of digital chemistry hubs based on the original Scottish facility. Opening a Silicon Valley site is Chemify’s next step.

A Chemify spokesperson told European Biotechnology Magazine that the financial terms of Zeon’s strategic investment have not been disclosed.

The investment aligns with Zeon’s STAGE30 medium-term management plan. Under the plan, Zeon aims to grow mobility, healthcare and life science, telecommunications, and green transformation sales to 48% of its total revenue by 2028. The company has identified the four sectors as growth areas. Specialty materials and elastomers accounted foralmost 85% of Zeon’s sales over the first nine months of 2025.

Drug discovery ambitions

Chemify is already applying the technology to tasks including discovering small molecules to treat tuberculosis. Funded by grants from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Chemify is working with Lgenia to design and optimize molecules. Chemify will synthesize potential hits using its platform.

The platform is based on research by the Cronin Group at the University of Glasgow. Questioning the need for the specialized equipment, ad hoc protocols and labor-intensive trial and error that is common in chemical synthesis, the group developed a reconfigurable hardware platform and associated software to run various chemical synthesis processes.