Cambridge Future Tech (CFT), a UK deep tech venture builder, and Johnson Matthey, a global specialist in PGM chemistry, have launched a joint programme to identify and commercialise new applications for Platinum Group Metals (PGMs), one of the most strategically significant material families in the modern economy.
The programme will deploy CFT's scientific scouting and venture creation capabilities alongside Johnson Matthey's deep technical expertise in PGMs, targeting high-potential applications that would not otherwise reach commercial scale through conventional R&D alone.
The initiative draws on CFT's established model for translating early-stage research into commercial ventures, sourcing IP from universities and research institutions, building companies around it, and supporting onward commercialisation through licensing, venture building, talent acquisition and market validation.
The timing reflects a convergence of pressures across multiple sectors. AI hardware is reaching performance and power limits that PGM-enabled memory technologies are positioned to address. Clean hydrogen production requires PGM-based catalysis at a scale the energy transition has not previously demanded. And as governments accelerate efforts to secure critical minerals supply chains, PGMs, with established recycling infrastructure and known circularity, represent a strategically resilient material family on which to build.
PGMs, including platinum, palladium, iridium and rhodium, are valued for their catalytic precision, conductivity and stability under extreme conditions. The same properties that make them indispensable in existing applications open up the next generation: memory devices that switch faster and consume less power, electrolysers that can operate at industrial scale, and chemical processes that reduce emissions without sacrificing performance.
Steve Raffe, General Manager of Consulting at Cambridge Future Tech, said:
"PGMs are only just getting started. The properties that make these metals indispensable today are the same ones that open up the next generation of critical applications - high performance AI hardware, clean energy at scale, industrial waste and emissions control, and much more. The science exists. What's missing is the structured pathway from laboratory discovery to commercial deployment. That is what this programme will provide."
Liz Rowsell, Chief Technology Officer at Johnson Matthey, said:
“PGMs are the unsung heroes of the modern global economy, enabling technologies that other materials can’t, but they are incorrectly perceived as too scarce to power innovation. JM understands these metals and their supply chains better than anyone, and we are excited to be working with CFT to unlock important technological advances built on the power and resilience of PGMs”
