The facts
Deep Principle at a glance.
Read Oct 20, 2026. Valuations and amounts are copied as each source states them; a figure that is only reported (talks, or people familiar with the deal) is labeled as reported.
- Kind of company
- Science, materials and mathAI for physics, chemistry, new materials and mathematics, often with robotic labs.
- Based in
- China
- Founded
- 202421st Century Business Herald (21jingji), Sep 19, 2026
- Last closed-round valuation
- No valuation reported
- What it has shipped
- Has a product
Founders
- Jia Haojun (贾皓钧): CEO; MIT PhD under Heather Kulik; previously at Dow Chemical's global R&D headquarters (21st Century Business Herald (21jingji), Sep 19, 2026)
- Duan Chenru (段辰儒): CTO; previously researched at Microsoft Azure Quantum; MIT Kulik-group alumnus (21st Century Business Herald (21jingji), Sep 19, 2026)
Reported cumulative funding of nearly RMB 1 billion after a Series A closed in July 2026; named L'Oréal as a seed customer. Sep 19, 2026
21st Century Business Herald (21jingji), Sep 19, 2026
What it has built
Shipped, or not yet.
“Has a product” is what our search found: something the public can use or buy, a model or API, research only, or nothing public.
3 rounds
Funding, as reported.
Every round we found, with the amount, valuation and investors as the source states them.
| When | Round | Amount | Valuation | Investors named | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 5, 2024 | Seed | nearly US$10 million | Not stated | None named | Deep Principle news page (company) |
| Nov 24, 2025 | Series A | over RMB 100 million | Not stated | None named | Deep Principle news page (company) |
| Jul 2026 | Series A (A系列) close; cumulative funding | nearly RMB 1 billion cumulative (近10亿元) | Not stated | Fortune Capital (孚腾资本), Huakong Fund (华控基金), Kangjun Capital (康君资本), Shunxi Fund (顺禧基金), Hillhouse Ventures (高瓴创投), Lenovo Capital (联想创投) | 21st Century Business Herald (21jingji) |
Outside checks
What others have found.
- Peer-reviewed paper co-authored by both founders: 'Optimal transport for generating transition states in chemical reactions', Nature Machine Intelligence 7, 615-626, doi:10.1038/s42256-025-01010-0 (company affiliation not shown on the citation page). (Kulik group, MIT (citation of Nature Machine Intelligence 7, 615-626), Apr 2025)
Our note: The 'what' quote translates as: a startup founded only two years ago that uses AI to discover new materials has caught the attention of capital. Round-by-round amounts before July 2026 come from the company's own news list. No valuation found. Customer results (e.g. L'Oréal: about 80% of recommended molecules outperformed previous ones) are as reported by 21jingji from the company.
More science, materials and math