alqem is a Munich-based deep-tech company that uses artificial intelligence to discover and commercialize new high-performance materials. It is headquartered in Munich and operates a research site in Coimbra, Portugal. The company was founded by the team behind Alexandria, the open materials database widely used by researchers and companies for inorganic materials. Its founders are CEO Hanh Nguyen, CTO Tiago Cerqueira, who co-built Alexandria, and CSO Milan Allan, Chair of Experimental Physics at LMU Munich.

The company's platform rests on three elements: a proprietary database of predicted crystalline materials, high-quality training datasets for material properties, and in-house laboratory capacity for synthesis and characterization. Its stated aim is to shorten the path from scientific prediction to industrial application from decades to years or months. The first focus is permanent magnets free of rare earth elements, which are used in electric vehicles, wind turbines, robotics and defense systems, and which are predominantly produced in China. The company reports a pipeline of rare-earth-free magnet candidates whose predicted properties have been experimentally checked. A collaboration with the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids was announced in July 2026 and a research project on new magnetic materials was launched the same month.

In July 2026 alqem raised a EUR 8 million pre-seed round co-led by UVC Partners and Union Square Ventures. The company is also working to establish a European-led materials supply chain and is adding research, engineering and manufacturing roles across its Munich and Coimbra operations.