Level Nine: Rebuilding Europe’s Chemical Industry with AI-Designed Catalysts

For decades, its competitiveness relied on stable feedstock prices and global supply chains. Today, that model is under pressure. Volatile energy markets, a looming energy crisis, geopolitical disruptions, and aggressive capacity expansion in China and the Middle East are forcing production slowdowns and plant closures across the continent. Meanwhile, Europe sits on vast amounts of locally abundant feedstocks — the raw materials for industrial chemical production — from agricultural residues and industrial byproducts to other forms of biomass. The challenge has never been resource availability. The challenge has been the chemistry required to convert these materials efficiently and economically at industrial scale. Existing catalytic technologies struggle to convert complex bio-based molecules efficiently into industrial-grade chemical intermediates at scale. As a result, many promising bio-based processes have historically failed to compete economically with fossil-based production. This is exactly the bottleneck that Level Nine is solving with its AI-driven catalyst discovery platform. We are proud to announce that we led Level Nine’s €4M Seed round, alongside participation from Zero Carbon Capital, Rockstart, IBB Ventures, and better ventures.

Europe’s chemical sector is a €1 trillion backbone industry, supplying materials that underpin virtually every industrial value chain, from construction and automotive to electronics and consumer goods. For decades, biomass from agricultural residues, forestry byproducts, and other industrial waste streams has been considered a locally abundant feedstock. Yet converting these complex molecules into industrial-grade chemicals requires extremely precise catalytic chemistry. Traditional catalysts accelerate chemical reactions but often lack the selectivity required to process complex bio-based feedstocks efficiently. Enzymes are nature’s catalysts and offer remarkable precision, but they cannot withstand the harsh conditions of industrial chemical processes. This technological gap has effectively locked the industry into fossil feedstocks. Not by choice, but by chemistry. Unlocking locally abundant feedstocks requires a fundamentally new approach. Catalysis will ultimately determine the economics of this transition, and is therefore emerging as a strategic technology for feedstock sovereignty and the future competitiveness of Europe’s chemical industry.

Recent advances in machine learning allow scientists to explore vastly larger catalyst design spaces than traditional chemistry ever could. Level Nine is building an AI-driven catalyst discovery platform to engineer a new generation of industrial catalysts that combine the precision of enzymes with the robustness required for heavy industry. By combining bio-inspired catalyst design with machine learning, the platform can identify and optimize entirely new catalytic systems dramatically faster than traditional discovery methods. The resulting catalysts enable:

At its core is an AI-driven catalyst discovery engine capable of generating multiple industrial catalysts across different feedstock pathways. In addition to the polyurethane application described below, the team already has catalysts in development for the conversion of fatty acids into biodiesel, demonstrating the platform’s ability to unlock multiple feedstock pathways. Level Nine was founded by Seadna Quigley and Dr. Emily Sheridan after they repeatedly observed how promising bio-based chemical pathways failed to scale due to catalytic limitations. Combining entrepreneurial experience in the bioeconomy with deep expertise in catalysis and reaction engineering, they are building the catalytic foundation for a new generation of bio-based chemical production.

The chemical industry typically requires technologies to be proven at industrial scale before adopting new catalytic processes. Level Nine is starting with the €100B polyurethane market as a first commercial entry point. Polyurethanes are essential materials used in insulation, automotive seating, furniture, construction, and consumer products. Manufacturers face a growing urgency to reduce dependence on volatile global feedstock markets while maintaining performance and cost parity. Level Nine has developed a drop-in aromatic bio-polyol that matches fossil-based performance at competitive cost. It also offers intrinsic flame retardancy, eliminating the need for toxic and expensive additives. Because the material integrates seamlessly into existing production systems, adoption does not require new infrastructure or major process redesign. The company is currently working with industrial partners across the polyurethane value chain and is progressing toward construction readiness for its first kiloton-scale production plant in 2027.

At Visionaries Tomorrow, we invest in companies that solve system-level bottlenecks in industrial transformation. In the case of the chemical industry, the bottleneck is not a lack of biomass resources or industrial demand. It is the catalytic chemistry required to convert those resources efficiently and competitively at scale. Level Nine sits precisely at the inflection point where advances in AI-driven catalyst discovery can unlock locally abundant feedstocks for industrial chemistry. By enabling the production of high-performance chemicals from locally available raw materials, the company is helping to rebuild the technological foundation of a more resilient and competitive European chemical industry. We are proud to partner with Seadna, Emily, and the Level Nine team as they tackle one of the most consequential challenges in industrial chemistry.

Read more about Level Nine and the funding announcement:

We’d love to share more about the investment, discuss co-investment opportunities, or simply exchange ideas on where European feedstock sovereignty is going and what that means for our industries. Just reach out to us anytime. Thank you for your continued partnership! We look forward to the next chapter of disruption — for a brighter, more prosperous future. Sebastian, Thong, and Iris for the Visionaries Tomorrow team