Rhinovate raises hundreds of millions RMB Pre-A for AI-driven materials R&D loop

机器之心 · wechat · 2026-09-02

Rhinovate (鼎犀智创), an AI materials-R&D startup spun out of Peking University, has closed a Pre-A round of several hundred million RMB led by Dinghui Baifu, its third round within a year.

Its RhinoAI platform links an AI Scientist, a self-driving lab and pilot-scale validation: algorithms propose hypotheses, robots run high-throughput experiments, and data flows back to update the models. The polymer-focused foundation model RhinoMat draws on 1.25M+ multi-scale simulation records and 48K automated experiment records.

Disclosed results: a carbon/aramid composite fiber compressed a search originally estimated at 2,000 days down to 4 days (99.8% shorter), reaching an industry-leading 41.2 cN/dtex tensile strength and now in pilot scale, winning first prize in WAIC 2026's AI4S track; an electrolyte project locked in a formulation direction in 7 days, cutting the cycle from 180 to 30 days with 75% fewer experiments and >99.5% coulombic efficiency. Partners include Wanhua Chemical and BTR.

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Rhinovate raises hundreds of millions RMB Pre-A for AI-driven materials R&D loop

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