AI Meets Industry: Cambium Raises $100M to Revolutionize Materials Manufacturing

Cambium secures $100 million in Series B funding to scale its AI-driven platform for designing and manufacturing high-performance materials for defense and aerospace.

NewDecoded

Published Jan 7, 2026

Jan 7, 2026

3 min read

Image by Mohammed Wafiq

Cambium has announced a $100 million Series B financing round led by 8VC to scale its advanced materials platform. The investment includes participation from Lockheed Martin Ventures and other strategic partners to support the discovery and manufacturing of high-performance monomers and polymers. This capital injection marks a transition for the California-based company as it moves from research and development into industrial-scale production.

The company leverages a unique combination of artificial intelligence, chemical informatics, and high-performance computing to design materials. This platform molecularly re-engineers polymers from first principles, achieving results hundreds of times faster than traditional lab methods. By accelerating these development feedback loops, the firm can rapidly iterate on materials tailored for the most demanding environments in defense and aerospace.

A significant portion of this growth stems from the recent acquisition of SHD Group, which established a global manufacturing network. With operational sites in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Europe, the company now possesses one of the largest qualified prepreg and adhesive production capacities. This distributed infrastructure allows for rapid prototyping and ensures supply chain security for NATO allies.

Current product launches include the ApexShield 1000 system, which is designed for thermal protection in hypersonic vehicles and rocket motors. Other materials in late-stage testing feature machining-ready composite billets and advanced adhesives for air and space vehicle structures. These innovations focus on enhancing performance and survivability across land, sea, and air domains as described on cambium-usa.com. CEO Simon Waddington stated that this funding validates the model for reindustrializing critical materials manufacturing. The company aims to provide a secure and scalable domestic supply chain for its partners. By combining software-like speed with heavy industrial capacity, the firm is positioning itself as a primary materials partner for the future of Western defense.

Decoded Take

This funding represents a pivotal graduation for the advanced materials sector, signaling a shift toward the Bio-for-Defense model. By acquiring the SHD Group, Cambium has bypassed the traditional manufacturing bottlenecks that often stall hardware startups, transforming into a vertically integrated materials prime.

This strategy directly addresses Western supply chain vulnerabilities by replacing reliance on non-allied precursors with high-performance, domestically produced alternatives. The involvement of Lockheed Martin Ventures further confirms that these AI-designed polymers are likely destined for high-priority programs, such as hypersonic missiles and next-generation autonomous systems.