Engineering the invisible
The hosts:
VINCENT BRILLAULT, Calderion
Abhiram KANNAN, Bidra (OCP Venture Capital)
What is this Ripple about?
Metal-organic frameworks may fundamentally change how we capture, store, filter and transform molecules at industrial scale. From carbon capture and hydrogen storage to industrial separations and catalysis, MOFs could become a foundational layer of next-generation molecular infrastructure — yet remain almost entirely absent from mainstream venture conversations.
Why this topic timely or urgent in 2026
Recent breakthroughs in computational materials discovery are pushing programmable materials beyond the limitations that long constrained the field — in ways reminiscent of the acceleration AI experienced with LLMs. Combined with advances in manufacturing, MOFs and other engineered materials may unlock unprecedented control over molecular behavior: capturing CO₂, directing complex chemical reactions, storing gases or selectively separating molecules at industrial scale. We may be entering a new industrial paradigm where precision-engineered molecular systems begin replacing the traditional “bulk and brute-force” approach to chemistry, energy and materials processing.
Key questions or challenges being explored
The key tension is whether MOFs will remain fascinating scientific research objects - or whether recent advances in computational discovery and manufacturing will turn programmable materials into the new molecular normal. In many ways, the question resembles where AI stood 5 years ago.
The key tension or debate at the heart of this discussion
Who would get the most value from attending this Ripple?
Investors, first, definitively. Industrial operators, second. Tech founders and materials researcher, third.