Aether for the companies building hard things.
The same foundation model our enterprise customers use, at Build-tier pricing, with forward-deployed engineering for the first pilot. We back companies building in fusion, drug discovery, materials, semiconductors, autonomous labs and dual-use infrastructure — the work that matters and that incumbents have made expensive.
The model, the runtime, the engineering — at your stage.
Three things we put on the table for early-stage companies. Nothing here is vague — pricing is published, the pilot terms are in writing, and the forward-deployed engineer has a name.
The same Aether — at startup pricing
We give early-stage companies access to the same foundation model, the same agent runtime and the same security posture our enterprise customers use — at Build-tier pricing scaled to your stage.
First pilot on us
Forward-deployed engineering for the first workload — three to eight weeks, written win condition, zero commercial commitment until you decide it worked.
No data-rights games
Customer data is not training data. Right-to-delete enforced by the runtime. The model you train against your data stays yours, even after you've outgrown us.
The shape of company we tend to back.
Four kinds of startup we partner with naturally. If one of these sounds like you, write to startups@apexworldlabs.com. If none of them do but the work is hard and touches reality, write anyway.
Hard-science startups
Building in fusion, drug discovery, materials, semiconductors, autonomous labs. Aether gives you the simulation substrate without the seven-figure incumbent stack a 50-person team can't afford.
AI-product startups
Building an agent product, a vertical SaaS or an autonomous workflow. Aether gives you long-horizon agents, deterministic memory, capability gating and eval-gated deploys — out of the box.
Defence & dual-use
Building in defence tech, hypersonics, space, sovereign infrastructure. Aether ships sovereign-deployed, ITAR-clean, export-control-aware — the posture procurement will already expect.
Bio & wet-lab startups
Building closed-loop discovery, autonomous labs, biologics platforms. Aether for autonomous labs drives the instruments and writes the eBR. Wet-lab integration without two years of orchestration code.
From an email to a production deploy.
The shape of the partnership for early-stage companies. We start with a workload, not a contract. Pricing scales with usage; the runtime is the same as our enterprise tier.
- 01Week 0
Apply
Tell us what you're building and what hard problem you're stuck on. We respond within two business days — and we're honest if we're not a fit.
- 02Weeks 1–2
Pair
A forward-deployed engineer pairs with your founding team for the first workload. We bring the runtime and the agent patterns; you bring the problem and the data.
- 03Weeks 3–6
Ship
Aether runs the workload alongside whatever you had before. Every artefact carries the model version. You see every trace.
- 04Quarter 2+
Scale
Production deploy at Build-tier pricing. As you grow, the contract scales with usage; we never penalise you for outgrowing the tier.
What early customers actually say.
Three quotes from seed and Series-A founders running Apex on their first hard workload. Attributed to roles and company-stage descriptions — founder-discretion on naming until the case study is published.
“We're forty people. Aether lets us punch above our weight on CFD work that used to require a ten-engineer team and a seven-figure licence.”
FounderSeries-A reusable launch start-up“The forward-deployed engineer paired with our founding chemist for six weeks. We retired the in-house FEP toolchain — and the contractor bill that came with it.”
CTOseed-stage biotech“Build-tier pricing meant we could ship the agent on launch day. By the time we raised our A, the agent was answering a third of tier-1 support tickets unattended.”
Head of Engineeringseed-stage platform company
The questions founders ask first.
Pricing, equity, what "first pilot on us" actually means, what happens when you outgrow Build-tier. Real answers — none of them hidden in an FAQ link at the bottom of an enterprise sales site.
What does Build-tier actually cost?
Build-tier pricing scales with usage. Most seed-stage companies run under $2k/month for the first six months; most Series-A companies under $8k. Caps are documented in the order form; nothing surprise-bills. You can switch to per-seat Team pricing at any point if it's cheaper for you.
Do you take equity?
No. The Build-tier engagement is a commercial relationship. We don't take SAFE notes or warrants for credits. If your investors want to refer companies our way, the standard founder track is enough — no warrant economics.
What does 'first pilot on us' actually mean?
We waive the fixed-fee on the first pilot — three to eight weeks, scoped to one workload, written win condition. You pay zero commercial fee through the pilot window. Forward-deployed engineering time is included. If the pilot lands, you sign Build-tier. If it doesn't, you walk clean.
What if we outgrow Build-tier?
Build-tier scales further than most startups need. When you cross into enterprise volume — bigger team, sovereign-deploy requirements, custom fine-tunes — we move you to Team or Enterprise on terms that preserve your existing pricing for the remainder of the year. We don't penalise growth.
Who actually pairs with us?
A named forward-deployed engineer with relevant domain experience. Not a customer-success generalist, not a chat-based support proxy. They sit in your slack, attend your standups during pilot weeks, and are on the hook for the win condition you wrote.
How does this work for dual-use / defence start-ups?
Sovereign-deployed, ITAR-clean, export-control-aware out of the box. The same posture our public-sector customers run on, available at Build-tier pricing for early-stage companies in the space. Talk to us — the engagement template is well-trodden.
The bar, in plain language.
We're broad about who we work with. The bar isn't fundraise stage or headcount — it's whether the work is hard, real, and a fit for what Aether actually does.
Seed to Series B, broadly
Working on something hard that touches the physical world
Reasonable team — we're flexible on size, founders matter more than headcount
Open to a real pilot, not a sales demo
Comfortable with a forward-deployed engineer paired with your team
Willing to publish — not every customer, but it helps both of us if you do
What are you building?
Send us a paragraph on the company, the workload that's hard, and what stage you're at. We answer within two business days — and we're honest if we're not the right fit.