Seed24 January 2020

ChAI raises 1.3m in seed funding led by Passion Capital to expand its team and global reach.

Passion Capital led the seed round for the raw materials prediction startup.

£1.3MSeed

ChAI uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to forecast price movements in key global raw materials. The platform helps large enterprises manage supply chain cost volatility.

London based commodity price prediction platform ChAI has secured 1.3m in a seed financing round. The investment was led by Passion Capital, with participation from Dynamo Ventures, MMC Ventures, and several angel investors. The company intends to allocate the fresh capital toward team expansion and international growth.

Established in 2017, the firm applies machine learning and unconventional data sources, including satellite imagery and shipping records, to help major corporations navigate supply chain uncertainties. The latest capital injection follows a 10 month period of early growth and will support the firm as it scales its operations through 2020.

From the founder

"At ChAI we’ve been tremendously encouraged by the near-instant and overwhelmingly positive response we’ve received to our methodology and predictions on commodities pricing. The inbound interest we’ve received for our “signals” and approach has been hugely validating and we look forward to introducing our services to many more companies in 2020. For this we’re excited to partner with such esteemed investors and business builders to progress our journey and take the company to the next level"

Tristan Fletcher

Co-founder & CEO at ChAI

Investor perspective

"It’s rare and always a privilege to come to work with a team that has such a unique range of skills ranging from leading academia to strong commercial acumen. We at Passion were immediately drawn to the fact that many large companies and enterprises which rely on commodities in their supply chain are unlikely to staff their own proprietary desks to predict or anticipate price volatility, but will look for innovative and more accurate forecasts in addition to historical-based models. We’re excited to work with the ChAI team and look forward to their continued success."

Eileen Burbidge

Founder, Passion Capital