If the 1970s and 80s were the Renaissance of advanced polymer discovery, now we live in a dark age. The reason for such persistent stagnation in the field is relatively simple: almost all polymers are based on petrochemicals, and this pool of molecules is almost exhausted.
This lack of progress in advanced polymers has significant downstream consequences in areas such as aerospace and ultrasonics. These areas”[are] really pushing the boundaries of materials to the extreme.” Cambium CEO Simon Waddington said in a recent interview.
Cambium, a startup founded in 2020 by Waddington and COO Stephan Herrera, wants to revitalize the development of advanced materials for defense, aerospace, automotive and more by mining the vast and complex world of biological systems. The company doesn’t necessarily make anything in biology – in a fermenter, say – but through traditional chemistry, through a discovery platform that acts as a “molecule-in-machine” innovator. This platform includes a computational program that can mine biology for molecules and facilities to build the composite and test it in the real world.
“We need to be able to go right back to the molecule, see what the problem is, redesign the molecules from the ground up – but with manufacturing in mind,” Waddington said. “Then we have to actually make these molecules, we have to test them, we have to go to proof of concept and go all the way down.”
Cambium began with an early collaboration with the Naval Air Warfare Center Weapons Division, based in China Lake, California, on high-temperature biological composites to help make aircraft, ships, submarines and spacecraft more resistant to fire. These thermal protection systems were put to the test in a live ignition of the wing of a medium-sized UAV, and Cambium found that it far outperformed other available materials.
Since then, the company has expanded into three main lines of business, Waddington said. The first is the high-temperature, lightweight polymers just mentioned, which could be suitable for UAVs, eVTOLs or battery cases. The second line of work is a set of even higher temperature materials that are almost ceramic-like. These are best suited to ultrasonic applications where temperatures can reach extremes. The final area is emerging areas such as laser protection for satellites, eyes and other applications.
To continue developing these materials, Cambium just closed a $19 million Series A funding round led by 8VC, with participation from Veteran Ventures, GSBackers, Marlinspike, MVP Ventures, Gaingels, Kern Venture Fund, Jackson Moses (Founder, Silent Ventures), Vertical Capital and angel investors. The company has now raised over $27 million to date, including an $8 million seed round in 2021.
Waddington said the funding will be used to build facilities and conduct some of the advanced materials demonstration tests, with the goal of transitioning to product revenue by 2025. While much of the company’s current revenue comes from research and development awards from US government agencies – including awards from bioMADE, the DOD’s biomanufacturing division, and the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering – Cambium is in talks with several commercial companies, including defense technology startups.
“We’re talking to all of them,” Waddington said. “And we will continue to do so because we share exactly the same position, which is that there is a generational shift in the industrial base and that requires new ways of thinking.”
Cambium’s headcount will reach twenty by Christmas, and Waddington hopes to double that number by the end of next year.
