The Matter Engine
Discovering safe, patentable replacements for the ingredients the world is banning.
When a regulator bans an ingredient, the whole industry needs a replacement.
Ingredients used for decades are being restricted on health and safety grounds. A ban is not optional. It forces reformulation on a fixed timeline, and the demand refills every time regulators act again.
The European Union banned titanium dioxide (E171) in food, after EFSA could not rule out genotoxicity.
The food-grade titanium dioxide segment the replacement addresses, with confectionery its largest application.
US reformulation is accelerating: Mars removed titanium dioxide from Skittles, and state bills name it in Arizona, New Jersey, and New York.
Nestle, General Mills, Kraft Heinz, and Campbell's are reformulating away from at-risk additives now. Each restriction opens a fresh, forced market.
A proprietary AI platform that discovers new compounds, then turns them into owned IP.
The Matter Engine combines AI, chemistry, and physics to identify and rank candidate compounds against performance, safety, and regulatory targets. It runs on Auraphase's own infrastructure, which controls cost and keeps proprietary data in-house.
Material review
Analyze the ingredient being replaced and identify the key properties a candidate must match.
Data gathering
Acquire large volumes of molecular data, largely through automated processes, to feed the analysis.
AI-powered analysis
Score and rank candidate compounds against billions of data points to predict performance and fit.
Physical testing
Top-scoring candidates are physically produced and tested. Company-reported results are distinguished from independent, accredited-lab validation.
A lead candidate replacement for titanium dioxide, physically produced.
- Founder-tested performance Company-reported
Whitening, opacifying, look and feel, and thermal durability comparable to titanium dioxide, with no adverse effect on taste or smell, at a simple recipe and low ratio. Informal testing by the founder, not yet independently or accredited-lab validated.
- Broader compatibility Projected
Additional testing across dyes, flavor systems, and injection mixtures is underway. Compatibility of 80 to 100 percent is projected, not confirmed.
- Commercial engagement
Active discussions with an established specialty confectionery manufacturer. A second industry engagement is under NDA.
- Intellectual property
Patent protection on the discovered compounds is in process.
Discover. Patent. License. The value concentrates with the IP owner.
Auraphase discovers and patents the replacement compound, on its own initiative or on commission.
Manufacturers and ingredient houses license the compound for fees and ongoing royalties.
A continuously updated pipeline of restricted ingredients keeps demand refilling.
The moat is owned patents, regulatory timing, and applied know-how. Not the algorithm.
Powerful AI materials models are becoming widely available, some open-source. Auraphase's advantage is the combination that is hard to copy: patents on validated compounds, first-mover timing against known regulatory deadlines, and the know-how to turn a computational candidate into a manufacturable, licensable ingredient. No single competitor combines AI discovery, owned-and-licensed IP, regulation-driven demand, and a food-first focus.
A team that has built AI-for-science together before.
Fourteen-plus years building startups. Former CTO of MedAware Systems, where his work included AI drug discovery. B.S. Computer Science, Full Sail University.
More than 35 years of technology leadership, with multiple companies scaled to strategic exits. President of BiomedAI. Former CEO of MedAware Systems. Johns Hopkins.
Dr. Tran brings over 30 years’ experience in senior-level management. As a pioneer in the science of data extraction, integration and analysis, he was the first to publish a meta-analysis in the prestigious Journal of the American Medical Association.
More than 40 years spanning finance and chemistry, bringing financial depth and materials-domain expertise to the board.
Auraphase is raising to expand discovery and testing capacity.
Investment is available only to verified accredited investors under SEC Regulation D, Rule 506(c). Accredited investors interested in learning more are welcome to reach out.