Oxford Nanopore co-founder takes commercial lead at Matter Machine
The Liverpool materials spinout pairs its pre-series A round with a commercial lead who helped take Oxford Nanopore from inception to a £3.4bn stock market listing
- Founder: Professor Matt Rosseinsky
- Co-investors: Northern Gritstone, University of Liverpool Enterprise Fund, Norrsken Evolve, LYVA Labs and the Northern Universities Venture Fund, managed by IP Group’s Parkwalk
- Base: Materials Innovation Factory in Liverpool, an £81m center co-created with Unilever
- Target uses named by IP Group: batteries, catalysts and advanced manufacturing
Matter Machine has put an experienced operator in charge of commercial strategy while its platform is still in development, which puts industrial partnerships alongside research results as the measure of its next stage. It also gives IP Group a second company with Sanghera in a leading role.
“Materials innovation underpins progress across multiple sectors from energy to manufacturing and electronics. Matter Machine brings together exceptional scientific expertise, unique technology capabilities and a highly scalable commercial opportunity. I am excited to lead the company's development and growth.”Gordon Sanghera, leads commercialization strategy, Matter Machine
IP Group has led a £4m pre-series A round in Matter Machine, an AI-driven materials discovery company spun out of the University of Liverpool, the investor announced on 12 October. Dr Gordon Sanghera, co-founder and former chief executive of Oxford Nanopore Technologies, has joined the company to lead its commercialization strategy.
According to the announcement, Matter Machine combines experimental and materials characterization expertise in inorganic crystalline materials with AI prediction, with the aim of cutting the time and cost of finding new materials.
IP Group says the round was oversubscribed and is the largest investment secured by a newly formed University of Liverpool spinout. The money is earmarked for a larger technical and commercial team, further work on the platform and talks with commercial partners across several sectors.
Sanghera stepped down as Oxford Nanopore’s chief executive and from its board on 2 March, when Francis Van Parys took over, and is supporting that company in an advisory capacity until early 2027. IP Group is among Oxford Nanopore’s investors.
Sources
- IP Group, “IP Group leads round in Matter Machine”, RNS announcement, 12 October 2026. https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/ip-group--ipo/ip-group-leads-round-in-matter-machine/9816863
- Oxford Nanopore Technologies, “Annual results for the year ended 31 December 2025”, RNS announcement, 2 March 2026. https://www.investegate.co.uk/announcement/rns/oxford-nanopore-technologies--ont/annual-results-for-the-year-ended-31-december-2025/9452172
