PhysicsX raises $135 million to bring AI-first engineering to aerospace, automobiles and energy

PhysicsX, which builds AI software for the advanced manufacturing of London-based startups, has raised $135 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Atomiko and was supported by Temasek, Siemens, Applied Materials and the July fund. General Catalyst, NGP, Radius Capital, Standard Investments, Allen & Co. Existing investors, including the company, have also returned.

The new funding will help the company grow internationally and drive the adoption of the platform across the high-stakes sectors, including aerospace, defense, automotive, semiconductors, materials and energy.

Since the Series A round two years ago, PhysicsX has grown to four times the revenue with over 150 employees. The new funding will increase the total to nearly $170 million, supporting the development of larger physics-based AI models as it expands globally.

Physicsx was founded in 2023 by Robin Tuluie and Jacomo Corbo. Startups bet that deep AI support from engineers will be a competitive advantage in industries where quality, safety and performance are not options.

Before PhysicsX, Tuluie led R&D at Renault F1 and Mercedes F1 and served as Director of Vehicle Technology at Bentley. Corbo was a former chief scientist, co-founder of Quantumblack (an AI company acquired by McKinsey) and a former chief race strategist at Renault F1.

Physicsx calls itself a “physical AI company,” a fair explanation for creating machine learning at the heart of how physical products have been built, tested and improved.

At its heart, PhysicsX is building an AI-Native software stack to support the entire engineering process. the goal? Help businesses tackling complex systems move faster and solve more challenging technical challenges. In particular, skilled labor forces become more difficult to find and the system becomes more complicated.

“Engineering is at the inflection point,” said Kobo, who is now CEO. “The structural plates of the world economy are being reshaped by industrial manufacturing. The issues of geopolitical flows and sovereignty and supply chain resilience are felt most strongly here. At the same time, innovation in these areas has become more urgent than ever before.

PhysicsX is already working with leading manufacturers and engineering teams. The company says its software is currently part of a daily workflow in some of the most demanding technological environments on the planet.

Investors see it as more than just optimization software. This is a new kind of toolkit for engineers who need to tackle problems that cannot be solved by traditional methods.

“PhysicsX is unlocking the new engineering paradigm. They don’t just shorten design cycles, reduce costs and accelerate innovation. They empower engineers to solve problems that previously exceeded human intuition.” “By combining frontier AI research with deep industrial expertise, our team is building transformational tools for the sectors that support the global economy. We are proud to lead this investment and support physics to shape the future of software-defined engineering.”

General Catalyst, one of PhysicsX’s previous supporters, reflected that sentiment. “PhysicsX is a developer-first AI platform that redefines what is possible for engineers,” said Paul Kwan, managing director. “Since investing nearly two years ago, PhysicsX has expanded its teams and solutions significantly, helping the world’s advanced industries improve the design, construction and operation of the most important and complex systems.”

Peter Corte, Siemens CTO and Chief Strategy Officer, said the company’s investments are betting on how industrial-grade AI will shape manufacturing. “The strategic investment in PhysicsX is based on our successful collaboration in the development of AI-based deep physics simulations, highlighting our confidence in our ability to accelerate industrial innovation,” he said. “PhysicsX has strong European roots and can drive global transformation of industrial AI while creating solutions that define the future of manufacturing, based on European industrial power and world-class AI talent pools, particularly in mission-critical applications where performance and reliability are paramount.”