London-based startup Zenithon AI has secured $10 million in a seed funding round. The investment was led by Backed VC, Lunar Ventures, Seraphim Space, MMC Ventures, and SOSV, with participation from angel investors. The company plans to allocate the capital equally between hiring and computing resources.
Founded in 2025 by Alex Higginbottom and Abetharan Antony, the firm focuses on developing large world models for extreme physics. These models are designed to assist engineers in sectors such as rocket science, nuclear fusion, and semiconductor manufacturing by accelerating simulation processes.
The startup claims its technology can evaluate one million design variations in the time it takes for a standard simulation to run once. By training on both simulation data and real-world results, the models provide uncertainty estimates for each prediction, aiming to replace conventional software.
Currently, the company employs 11 full-time staff members and plans to increase the headcount to 17 within the next three to six months. Operations are based in London, with additional expansion planned for San Francisco and across the United States.
The global simulation software market was valued at approximately $26,5 billion in 2025 and is expected to grow by 13 percent annually through 2033. Zenithon faces competition from firms like PhysicsX, which has raised over $400 million to date.
