Company details

HEADCOUNT

1-24

ORG TYPE

Startup

SECTOR

Technology & Digital

WEBSITE

http://www.polaron.ai/

About the company

Polaron is a London-based AI company building software that learns relationships between how materials are made, what their microstructures look like (from microscopy), and how they perform. Polaron positions the product as a platform for materials engineers working on things like batteries and other industrial materials. Public updates from early February 2026 describe an $8m funding round to expand the engineering team and scale deployments. Polaron is also described publicly as an Imperial College London spinout, with founders spanning AI-for-materials and industry.

Locations and presence

Polaron lists London as the primary base, with a Shoreditch address (Senna Building) shown on the careers page. Public hiring is London-first, with at least one senior engineering role shown as onsite-or-remote.

Palpable Score

51.8

/ 100

Polaron looks like a high-talent-density deep-tech startup, but early-career access is limited because the visible roles are mostly senior or specialist, with no clear internship or graduate pathway advertised. The strongest public signal is pay competitiveness via published salary ranges on startup job platforms, while progression and junior support are hard to verify from public materials.

Pillar 1: Early-career access

Score

8.8

/ 20

The company’s public careers page lists Product Engineer, Senior Software Engineer, and Forward Deployed Engineer roles, which are not framed as 0–3 year entry points.
Polaron shows a Go-to-Market Associate role on startup job platforms, which can be an early-career doorway, but the company does not label it as graduate or junior.
The company does not publicly show internships, working-student roles, apprenticeships, or “0–2 years” language, so entry-level access looks occasional rather than repeatable.

Pillar 2: Hiring fairness and transparency

Score

12.0

/ 20

The company provides a clear application route (open-role links plus a careers@ email) rather than relying only on referrals.
Polaron’s job descriptions (as mirrored on external listings) include concrete responsibility sections, which helps candidates judge scope before applying.
The company does not publicly outline interview stages, task expectations, or typical timelines, so candidate effort and preparation remain hard to calibrate.

Pillar 3: Learning and support

Score

10.0

/ 20

The company’s roles sit in an interdisciplinary domain (materials, microscopy, ML, software), which can be a strong learning environment when teams collaborate tightly.
Polaron’s Forward Deployed Engineer style role implies close customer and product feedback loops, which often builds skills quickly, but the listings do not spell out coaching or pairing.
The company does not publish onboarding detail, mentorship structure, or review cadence, limiting confidence that support is consistent across teams.

Pillar 4: Pay fairness and stability

Score

13.0

/ 20

The company has public salary ranges for multiple roles on startup job platforms (for example £75k–£95k engineering ranges and £60k–£80k GTM range), which is a meaningful transparency signal even when not first-party.
Polaron advertises equity alongside compensation on at least one mirrored job listing, which supports stability and upside for early hires.
The company does not consistently publish salary ranges and benefits directly on the main careers page, which prevents a higher pay fairness score.

Pillar 5: Early-career outcomes

Score

8.0

/ 20

The company has public momentum markers such as an Manchester Prize win announcement and fresh February 2026 funding coverage, but these are not early-career outcomes.
Polaron is very early by public headcount signals, so there is limited visible evidence of junior promotions, retention patterns, or intern-to-offer conversions.
The company does not publish outcome metrics (progression levels, time-to-promotion, cohort retention), and there is little third-party review data tied specifically to early-career experience.