FastFormulator
AI – The secret ingredient for rapid formulation development
What do shampoos, paints, mayonnaise and cough medicines all have in common? They are all complex recipes. If you look on the back of any of these (and indeed most household goods) you will notice they contain multiple ingredients. Each ingredient has a purpose, it may change the colour of the product (a colorant) or improve the flow of a cream (a rheology modifier). These are generally safe, built on extensive scientific research and experiments, but changing regulation and consumer demands are keeping these sectors on their toes. Driven by pressure groups, the safe ingredient list is a dynamic process, with omissions sometimes catching companies off guard, requiring new ingredients. Additionally, we are finally beginning to appreciate the need for sustainable ingredients, again introducing new ingredients to the market opening the door to new exciting formulations.
Unfortunately, the replacement of an ingredient is not as simple as a direct swap. Each new ingredient requires extensive research and testing to ensure it doesn’t impact performance, stability, safety, even appearance. It’s hard to predict how a new ingredient will interact with all the others, with unexpected chemical and physical changes problematic. But how to accurately predict the impact of new ingredients? This is where FastFormulator can help!
The company was founded in 2024 by Prof. Samiul Amin and Prof. Yelena Yesha. Prof. Amin has an extensive career in formulation innovation working in both cosmetics and life sciences previously at L’Oreal and Unilever and is also a Professor at the University of Miami where FastFormulator spun out from. Prof. Yelena Yesha is the Knight Foundation Chair of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Miami. During his career in formulation development, Prof. Amin was frustrated by the length of time and the number of experiments required to bring a new formulation online. These can take 1 – 2 years, requiring hundreds of different formulations to be made and tested, creating a reluctance to change ingredients and actually improve products. FastFormulator have managed to reduce the time and experiments required to bring a new ingredient online leveraging the power of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning.
In the past year, there has been a significant amount of discussion regarding AI, including its implementation and potential applications. However, FastFormulator has successfully proven the efficacy of their solution. Using a proprietary model developed at the University of Miami, which they licensed exclusively, they can accurately predict how a new ingredient will alter the performance of a formulation. Their dataset is based off real-life formulations and ingredients collected at FastFormulator’s formulation lab, which were inputted into machine learning algorithms to create their AI model, which they call “Chemical Intelligence” and is already commercially available.
Users input the chemical structure of their new ingredient and the other chemicals used in the formulation, with FastFormulator’s model predicting the stability, rheology, foaming, surface tension alongside other physio-chemical insights which helps them estimate performance. Unlike other AI systems which simply produce a report, Fastformulator can undertake real-world testing of the ingredient on behalf of their customer, validating their model further, with excellent accuracy reported so far! FastFormulator can provide users with the 5 best options to try and test themselves instead of the hundreds of experiments normally required without AI. Additionally, FastFormulator can undertake contract formulation work using their AI platform and labs.
They work with major corporations active in new product innovation, allowing them to access their customisable platform, and model new ingredients continuously and securely through a subscription model. FastFormulator also work with start-ups and SMEs who are producing new ingredients, with these companies typically struggling with the formulation aspect. Beyond their “Chemical Intelligence” platform, they are developing a “Safety and Compliance Intelligence” service which shows upcoming regulatory changes and a “R&D Business Intelligence” service which helps assess the patentability of your formulation.
FastFormulator are hoping to work with businesses from start-ups to major conglomerates, and want to help you with your formulation needs. They are hoping to work with early adopters to help take their already thriving platform even further, reaching new industries and geographies! Backed by Renzo Bordoni, founder of Wairua Beauty, they are already making huge progress with “Chemical Intelligence” online.
If you want to learn more about FastFormulator or give their Chemical Intelligence software a try, please reach out to Prof. Amin! We are excited to see how they will change the world of mixtures and allow new ingredients to flourish!