Stanhope AI, leveraging decades of neuroscience to enable machines to make decisions akin to humans, has garnered £2.3m in seed funding, with the UCL Technology Fund leading the round. The initiative also saw contributions from Creator Fund, MMC Ventures, Moonfire Ventures, Rockmount Capital, and prominent angel investors.

Originating from University College London and helmed by leaders in neuroscience and AI, Stanhope AI pioneers ‘agentic’ AI technology. This innovation models human brain activity, predicting and learning from the environment in real-time to refine its understanding, a stark contrast to traditional AI’s reliance on pre-fed data and massive computational resources.

Supported by foundational research in Active Inference and the Free Energy Principle, Stanhope AI’s approach could revolutionize various sectors, including delivery and industrial robotics, by creating energy-efficient, autonomous AI systems capable of real-world applications.

“Our mission at Stanhope AI is to bridge the gap between neuroscience and artificial intelligence, creating a new generation of AI systems that can think, adapt, and decide like humans. We believe this technology will transform the capabilities of AI and robotics and make them more impactful in real-world scenarios. We trust the math and we’re delighted to have the backing of investors like UCL Technology Fund who deeply understand the science behind this technology and their support will be significant on our journey to revolutionise AI technology.”

— Professor Rosalyn Moran, CEO and co-founder of Stanhope AI

“AI startups may be some of the hottest investments right now but few have the calibre and deep scientific and technical know-how as the Stanhope AI team. This is emblematic of their unique approach, combining neuroscience insights with advanced AI, which presents a groundbreaking opportunity to advance the field and address some of the most challenging problems in AI today. We can’t wait to see what this team achieves.”

— David Grimm, partner UCL Technology Fund

“The promise offered by Stanhope AI’s approach to Artificial Intelligence is hugely exciting, providing hope for powerful whilst energy-light models. UCLB is delighted to have been able to support the formation of a company built on the decades of fundamental research at UCL led by Professor Friston, developing the Free Energy Principle.”

— Marina Santilli, sasociate director UCL Business