Cambium

Cambium is an El Segundo, California-based advanced materials company leveraging AI-driven molecular design, synthetic biology, and computational chemistry to discover and manufacture novel polymers and composites for defense, aerospace, hypersonics, and space applications. Founded in 2020 by Simon Waddington and Stephan Herrera, Cambium compresses material discovery from 10-20 years to months, then manufactures and qualifies the materials in-house on aerospace-certified equipment [mdash] creating an integrated discovery-to-production pipeline that has no real parallel in the defense industrial base. The company's core capability is its AI-native discovery platform: generative design of monomers and polymers hundreds of times faster than traditional synthesis, validated against a proprietary chemical informatics database and validated through high-performance computing before any physical synthesis begins. This approach has produced ultra-high-temperature polymers capable of surviving hypersonic thermal environments, carbon-carbon thermal protection systems for reentry vehicles, and fiber-reinforced composites with unprecedented strength-to-weight ratios. Cambium's vertical integration is its second competitive moat. The company owns and operates aerospace-qualified manufacturing assets across its facilities in the U.S., U.K., and Europe following the December 2025 acquisition of SHD Composites, a global aerospace and industrial prepreg, film, and adhesives manufacturer. This gives Cambium one of the world's largest aerospace-qualified production capacities and multi-site supply chain resilience [mdash] critical for defense customers who cannot accept single-source supply chain risk. The defense customer portfolio spans multiple Program of Record categories: hypersonics (thermal protection and structural materials), missile defense (composite casings and sensor windows), space resilience (launch vehicle and satellite structures), directed energy (optical protection systems), and unmanned systems (lightweight structural composites). The company is actively engaged with multiple major prime contractors and DoD program offices, with revenue visibility from existing contracts and procurement pipelines. In January 2026, Cambium closed a $100M Series B led by 8VC, with participation from MVP Ventures, Lockheed Martin Ventures, Veteran Ventures Capital, J17 Ventures, Vanderbilt University, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, Inevitable Ventures, and GSBackers. The round also funded the SHD Composites acquisition [mdash] completing the vertical integration from AI-driven discovery to global-scale aerospace manufacturing. Total funding is approximately $127M+ across three rounds. Strategic acquisition: SHD Composites (acquired December 2025) [mdash] global aerospace/industrial prepreg, film, and adhesives manufacturer with sites in the U.S., U.K., and Europe. Gives Cambium multi-site resilience and one of the world's largest aerospace-qualified production capacities. Lockheed Martin Ventures' participation signals strategic buyer interest in Cambium's materials pipeline for current and future defense programs. The combination of AI-accelerated discovery, vertical manufacturing integration, and defense customer relationships positions Cambium for rapid revenue scale in 2026-2027.