Roadmap.
| What we’ve done already:
- De-risking
Proof of concept completed: unit cell POC at Oxford and ALD process POC at VTT in Finland. - Team
Strong science team:
Professors from Oxford (nanocatalysis) and Cambridge (in-house nanoparticle synthesis), both part-time.
Very strong Head of Operations candidate.
Thomas Wolf as adviser, Haakon Overli as angel and fractional CFO
Early conversations on the operations and sales side. - Customers
Active conversations with CoreWeave, Joby, Honda, and the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Near-guaranteed semiconductor revenue stream [details in private conversations]
| Where we want to be in 6 months:
The goal is LOIs from select target companies and the start of a limited production run. This will be our first open demonstration to the world that our material design approach works and carries a significant competitive advantage.
The main question we’ll be able to answer after 6-months: does this technology stay in high-value, lower-volume applications (energy, defence, extreme materials, aerospace), or can it scale into much larger markets such as Li-ion and other mass-market materials science problems, where low cost is important?
| What we’ll do to get there:
5 streams running in parallel:
1. Hiring
Immediate
- Head of Operations
Responsible for ALD procurement/leasing, MVP lab fit-out, supplier relationships, and keeping the synthesis pipeline on schedule.
Very strong candidate. Equity + salary package. Has built science parks around Oxford, professor at Oxford, is a key figure in ALD commercial development. - Advisory Board
Thomas Wolf, Haakon Overli, and other angels (Mubadala). - VP / Head of Commercial
Focus on data centres and general enterprise.
Profile: enterprise energy or infrastructure sales background, ideally with experience selling into hyperscalers or data centre operators; no science background required.
In talks with a potential candidate with exits from Founders Fund-backed companies and IPOs. Will require equity but is very effective. Can also support fundraising. - Senior Research Scientist
Profile: PhD in materials science or surface chemistry, with direct ALD/MLD process experience.
Three candidates from Oxford and Eindhoven. Salary + options. - Raw Materials Scientist
In-house nanosynthesis.
Strong candidate, professor at Cambridge. Will require an equity package to convince to join the team as opposed to licensing. - Lab Technicians Team
Starting with two, growing over the following months.
Candidates from AstraZeneca and Oxford. Salary. - ALD Technicians
Likely sourced from Pico/Applied Materials – verbal commitment already in place. Salary.
Months 3–5:
- Government & Defence Lead
Not urgent, but a June start would put us in a strong position for Series A with a live government conversation.
Profile: ex-DoD or DoE. One candidate with 10 years of US intelligence experience and strong defence connections. - Fractional CFO
Runway management and grant applications. One of our angels is a strong candidate: ex-VC, wants to be actively involved, but is interested in a financial role.
Month 6+:
- Expand the research science team with more machines, lab time and data. At this stage we will need to pursue both process scaling and product optimisation in parallel, which will require some structural organisation. Candidates from Oxford, Cambridge, Stanford, Eindhoven, Imperial, AstraZeneca, and Aalto across materials science, organic synthesis, and nanomanufacturing.
- Potential hires for later funding stages: marketing, communications, and brand positioning.
A note on geography
The vast majority of development will be based in Oxford for Year 1. The team is based there, and there is a very high concentration of talent in material science, nanocatalysis etc. This also means the hiring plan above is achievable with the first round of funding: the operational cost in the UK will be considerably lower compared to a similar US-based research. As commercialisation approaches, the plan is to expand to the US as the majority of customers and funding are located there. That transition will be funded with later rounds.
2. Commercial
Immediate:
Build out the target list. Primary focus: data centres and personal aviation. Revive conversations with CoreWeave (key interest from early conversations: price and lead time) and Joby (key interest from early conversations: power density), identify new comparable customers. Revive defence conversations. [Addressable ARR is significantly larger than what we can produce at first. Market size is approximately $25B for data centres, $5B for personal aviation, and up to $10B for defence.]
Separately, near-guaranteed semiconductor revenue. [6-figure ARR within 12 months, with 8–9 figure ARR potential within 5 years. Details on a call.]
US DoD and DoE grants are a very promising near-term capital path as hundreds of millions are spent on classical technology – we offer a step change. See: amphiform.com/thesis/#capital
Explore energy storage and battery companies as potential customers for on-demand materials development. A careful conversation (IP exposure risk) with Forge Nano about their customer base and use cases is very valuable
Months 1–3 (depending on development progress):
NDA -> technical briefing with lead prospects.
Pilot specification: form factor, power output, power density requirements.
Months 4–6:
We expect it will be very easy to get LOIs after we demonstrate stable Amphimaterial stack operation at agreed power levels and after degradation studies are done. Full demonstration also lets us set pricing (the price ceiling is currently very high, so we don’t expect this to be a problem at this stage)
Month 6+:
Small production runs and first revenue.
3. Equipment, machines and lab space
Immediate:
Lab space around Oxford. Two options: Begbroke Science Park (flexible layout, potential administrative friction with the university) or Osney Mead (available immediately without problems, not flexible at all. Will have to see if works for heavy equipment, otherwise good).
Place orders for:
Picosun SUNALE R-200 Advanced (best option for development work for scaling)
Beneq TFS 200 (industry standard, best for new research)
Other standard organic chemistry lab equipment
Months 2-3:
Full lab fit-out. Fluorine handling equipment is important. Inert gas infrastructure (nitrogen can work as a start). Dedicated space for ALD systems. Prioritise ALD installation as can start data generation and can begin (using pre-synthesised precursors)
Months 4-5:
Orders for:
Applied Picosun Morpher T (potentially 2x) – super important for scaling
Applied Picosun Morpher P – unlocks new applications)
Month 6:
Setup, expansion of the ALD equipment
Explanation:
Installation of the first R-200 is the critical path for early data generation for scalability. TFS 200 is critical for research of new materials.
Initial synthesis work can begin within weeks of installation using pre-synthesised precursors.
Scaling work (Morpher T and P) depends on validation of deposition recipes developed on R-200/TFS 200.
Risks:
- Lead times for ALD machines
We have a verbal comitment about ALDs being available within a month from Applied Materials/Pico but from conversations with founders in the space, it can take up to 16 weeks.
Worst case: the work is already partially done at VTT and we can find machines in Stanford to temporary outsource parts. - Safety approvals
This depends on the building. Begbroke Science park will be much easier. We can start with processes under inert gasses without Fluorine – this will be a lot safer (easier to pass building compliance) + easier research to start.
4. IP and patents
IP landscape review + FTO analysis: 3–5 weeks (April–May)
Provisional filing for main synthesis process: about 1 week (primary focus) Provisional filings for:
– Multi-layer inorganic–organic deposition architecture
– Interface engineering
– Functional group material positioning
Full application drafting
Full PCT application filed: end of June
5. Synthesis pipeline
April:
Establish supply chain for the inorganic component. This is straightforward, choose between VWR or Merck – scale is important!
Benchmark Enamine for the organic component compared to in-house production – scale is very important!
Evaluate nanoparticle sources. Compare commercial suppliers (US Nano and VWR) against in-house synthesis
Post-April:
Generate first 5–10 validated deposition recipes (inorganic-organic stacks) within 4 weeks of ALD installation
Our target is throughput of 2 new materials per week initially, and scaling it to 4–5 per week by month 6. Testing is integrated directly into the development cycle. The goal is iteration on a timescale of days.
[Further detail withheld from this document to protect IP – details on a call]