AI That Speaks Chemistry: How ReactWise Is Redefining Process Development

What happens when artificial intelligence truly meets bench chemistry? In this new 5-HT Startup Story, we talk to Dr. Alexander Pomberger, CEO & Co-Founder of ReactWise Technologies Ltd, about building an AI optimisation platform designed by chemists, for chemists.

In September 2025, ReactWise participated in the 5-HT Innovators Club, focusing on laboratory digitalisation and automation, where the team presented their solution to an expert audience. The event was co-hosted with Prof. Dr. Stefan Bräse at the state-of-the-art ZEISS Innovation Hub @ Karlsruher Institut für Technologie (KIT).

In this interview, Dr. Pomberger shares how ReactWise is closing the gap between powerful algorithms and everyday lab work – accelerating optimisation while keeping chemists firmly in control.

How would you explain your solution in three sentences to a professional colleague in a chemical/pharmaceutical company or other potential client?

ReactWise is an AI optimisation platform for chemical process development. Our software recommends experiments for manual execution, and can also integrate with ELNs, lab hardware, and analytics to automatically run closed-loop continuous-flow and high-throughput experiments. Using proprietary datasets and chemical descriptor databases, our transfer learning algorithm, MemoryBO, can warm-start campaigns, enabling chemists to run fewer, more informative experiments and reach robust conditions faster.

What problem motivated you to start the company?

I’m an organic chemist who had to teach myself coding (before ChatGPT) to apply data-driven optimisation in the lab. Later, in industry and during my PhD with BASF on self-driving labs and Bayesian optimisation, I saw a clear gap: powerful algorithms existed, but never reached bench chemists. We started ReactWise to close that gap - offering advanced optimisation and plug-and-play hardware integration without requiring chemists to write even a single line of code, plus intuitive visualisations to open the black box and explain the “why” behind results helping chemists work faster and smarter.

ReactWise Founders Dr. Alexander Pomberger, Daniel Wigh (from left to right)

How do you convince a chemical/pharmaceutical company or another potential client to set up a pilot project with you?

When we talk to a new partner, we always anchor the conversation in a concrete use case: a tough reaction or process where yield, speed or robustness are currently bottlenecks. We then show, on their own chemistry, how ReactWise can design smarter experiments and shrink the optimisation effort by combining pre-trained models, rich solvent/ligand/base descriptors and, where needed, a bespoke model trained on their historical data in just a few clicks.

What convinces most teams is that the platform is genuinely built “by chemists, for chemists”: no coding, 30-minute onboarding, and a workflow that mirrors how bench chemists actually think and work. Even large pharma companies with in-house tools tell us ReactWise is the easiest platform they’ve tried, and we are already trusted by teams at Pfizer, Pharmaron, Biogen, and others.

Compared to other solutions, we don’t just automate experiment selection - we also provide a visualisation suite that explains why the model suggests certain conditions, so scientists can understand trends, communicate results internally, and reuse knowledge in future projects. That combination of faster optimisation, easy adoption, and explainable AI is what typically gets a pilot project over the line.

Who are your current customer (groups) and who do you want your potential customers to be?

We currently work with R&D and process teams in pharma, chemicals, and advanced materials, including companies such as Pfizer, Pharmaron, Biogen, and Fraunhofer IMM. Our customers are typically organisations that run significant chemical development or manufacturing. Looking ahead, we are expanding into adjacent sectors where chemistry is core to the product - for example, agrochemicals, cosmetics, and food & beverage - across Europe, North America, and Asia.

Where do you see yourself in 3 years and how can 5-HT support you?

In three years, we see ReactWise as the intelligence layer in modern chemistry R&D labs, running end-to-end, data-driven workflows from HTE discovery to process robustness and filing readiness. With powerful foundation models and plug-and-play self-driving lab integrations, we aim to radically reduce experimental load. 5-HT can support us with industry exposure, partnerships, and exchange with its ecosystem.

ReactWise Team

You participated in the 5-HT Innovators Club in September 2025. What is your impression of the event and what have you gained (so far) from participating?

The 5-HT Innovators Club was a great opportunity to reconnect with old friends and meet new people we hadn't engaged with before. Initially focused on the US and UK markets, it was valuable to gain insights into the developing landscape in Germany. We've already had several advanced conversations with attendees and are excited about the next steps and potential collaborations.

Dr. Alexander Pomberger presenting at the 5-HT Innovators Club in September 2025