Ex-DeepMind researchers raised $50M to build AI that figures out which scientific questions are worth asking

TL;DRLondon AI lab Inherent raised $50M from Index Ventures and Radical Ventures to build self-improving AI for scientific discovery. Ex-UK AI tsar Matt Clifford advises.

London-based AI lab Inherent emerged from stealth on Wednesday with a $50 million seed round co-led by Index Ventures and Radical Ventures. Nvidia’s venture arm NVentures also participated, alongside Ex/Ante, Metaplanet, Macroscopic Ventures, and Mythos Ventures. It is among Europe’s largest AI stealth-to-launch rounds in 2026.

The founding team comes from DeepMind, Microsoft, and Reka AI. Tantum Collins and Edward Hughes previously collaborated on cooperative AI research at DeepMind. Louis Kirsch, another co-founder, also worked at DeepMind. Kaloyan Aleksiev came from Reka AI and Microsoft.

Collins has a policy background that most AI lab founders lack. He worked on AI policy at the Biden White House before co-founding Inherent. Matt Clifford, co-founder of Entrepreneurs First and the UK government’s former AI tsar, has joined as an adviser.

Inherent is building a platform called Faraday, named after the scientist. Its purpose is not to answer questions faster. It is to figure out which questions are worth asking in the first place.