InChI Trust

What InChI Trust does

InChI Trust is a nonprofit UK charity (registered company 06906661; charity 1138670) that develops, maintains, and promotes the IUPAC International Chemical Identifier (InChI), a structure-based open standard for storing, searching, and retrieving chemical information. The Trust was formed in July 2009 in partnership with IUPAC and is governed by a Board of Trustees with IUPAC representation; it is registered in Cambridge, United Kingdom, with technical operations consolidated at RWTH Aachen University in Germany.

The core technology is the InChI algorithm, which converts a chemical structure into a unique, layered, machine-readable string covering connectivity, tautomeric information, isotopes, stereochemistry, electronic charge, and reconnected metals, plus the companion 27-character InChIKey hash designed for search-engine and database indexing. InChI software is distributed as open source (MIT license since v1.07, approved July 2024) via GitHub, embedded in leading chemistry packages (ChemDraw, MarvinSketch, ACD/ChemSketch, BIOVIA Draw, ChemDoodle, Ketcher, RDKit, OpenBabel, CDK, KNIME), and used as a cross-reference by major databases (SciFinder, Reaxys, PubChem, ChemSpider, UniChem). Extensions under active development include Reaction InChI (RInChI), Mixture InChI (MInChI), Nano InChI (NInChI), Markush support, Large Molecules, QR Codes, and a federated InChI Resolver. Functional reliability of v1.06 was reported at greater than 99.99%.

Revenue is generated primarily through tiered annual membership dues (organizations under $500K revenue: $1,000; up to $5M: $5,000; above $5M: $25,000; associates: $5,000; supporters: no fee), supplemented by project grants (NFDI4Chem via Volkswagen Stiftung and the Data Literacy Alliance/DALIA) routed largely to RWTH Aachen for code development, with cheminformatics expertise contributed by the Beilstein-Institut. After the 2021 passing of lead developer Igor Pletnev, the Trust added a Technical Director (Gerd Blanke, 2021) and a Director of Outreach and Marketing (Rudy Potenzone, 2021), refreshed its Board with four new institutional representatives in 2024, and is now refocusing spending toward core technical oversight after drawing on reserves during 2021-2023.

Name

InChI Trust

Legal name

InChI Trust

Website

https://inchi-trust.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2009

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

InChI Trust is a nonprofit UK charity that develops and maintains the IUPAC InChI open standard for chemical structure identification, serving global chemistry database providers, software vendors, and researchers through tiered membership dues and open-source tooling.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

England

HQ country

Germany

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Membership Dues: The InChI Trust is funded by member dues from organizational members. Annual fees are based on company revenue: up to $500K revenue pays $1,000/year; up to $5M pays $5,000/year; above $5M pays $25,000/year. Associate members pay $5,000/year. Supporters pay no dues.
2. Open Source Distribution: InChI software and algorithm are freely available as open source under MIT license (v1.07+). No direct revenue from software distribution. Revenue generated indirectly through membership contributions from organizations that benefit from the standard.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels9 records

Core offering

InChI Trust develops and maintains the InChI (International Chemical Identifier) open standard and its reference software library, providing a non-proprietary, machine-readable, and web-searchable representation of chemical structures. The Trust also stewards derivative identifier standards — InChIKey (compressed hash), RInChI (reactions), MInChI (mixtures), NInChI (nanomaterials), the InChI Resolver federated query service, and the InChI Certification Suite — and distributes the entire software stack under an open MIT licence for chemistry databases, software vendors, publishers, and researchers.

Product overview

InChI Trust offers the InChI (International Chemical Identifier) open standard as its core product—a structure-based chemical identifier developed by IUPAC and the Trust that provides unique machine-readable strings for chemical substances. The product portfolio includes the companion InChIKey hashed identifier, the downloadable InChI Software package with command-line and GUI tools, and the browser-based InChI Web Demo. Extension products include RInChI for chemical reactions, MInChI for mixtures, NInChI for nanomaterials, Markush structure support, and large molecule extensions. Supporting services include the InChI Resolver federated network, InChI OER educational resources, and the InChI Certification Suite. All software and algorithms are open source, with development coordinated by working groups and supported by partners including RWTH Aachen and the Beilstein-Institut.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• InChI (International Chemical Identifier) The InChI open standard is a non-proprietary, structure-based chemical identifier that encodes a chemical compound into a unique, machine-readable, web-searchable string. Distributed as reference software under an MIT licence and endorsed by IUPAC, it is intended for chemistry databases, software vendors, publishers, and R&D organizations that need a canonical way to exchange and search chemical structures.
• InChIKey InChIKey is a fixed-length hashed representation derived from an InChI string, designed for web-search, indexing, and lookup of chemical compounds in databases such as Google search and PubChem. It is distributed as part of the InChI software under the MIT licence.
• RInChI (Reaction InChI) RInChI is an InChI-derived identifier standard that represents chemical reactions in a canonical, machine-readable format for indexing reactions in databases and publications. It is released alongside the InChI software as part of the open Trust offering.
• MInChI (Mixtures InChI) MInChI is an InChI extension designed to encode chemical mixtures (multi-component samples) into a canonical, machine-readable identifier, addressing a known limitation of standard InChI for non-pure substances. It is published under the MIT licence as part of the Trust's open-source distribution.
• NInChI (Nano InChI) NInChI is an InChI extension designed to generate identifiers for nanomaterials and other complex structures not fully captured by standard InChI. It is published under the MIT licence as part of the Trust's open-source distribution.
• InChI Resolver The InChI Resolver is a federated network service that, given an InChI or InChIKey, redirects to participating chemistry resources (e.g., ChemSpider, PubChem) so users can jump from a compound identifier to online information sources. It operates as a community resource, not as a paid offering, and is hosted by the Trust.
• InChI Certification Suite The InChI Certification Suite is a collection of automated tests used to validate that a given software implementation of InChI produces output conforming to the published standard, providing developers and integrators with conformance verification. It is publicly available as part of the Trust's open distribution.
• InChI QR Code generator An InChI-branded QR-code generator that encodes an InChI string (or InChIKey) into a scannable QR code, enabling quick sharing of compound identifiers from paper or screen. It is published by the Trust as part of its educational and outreach tooling.

Quantifiable outcome

• InChI is used by most large chemical databases and software applications handling many millions of chemical structures
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration16 records

Feature7 records

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core, primary and associate.

• Beilstein-InstitutcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Development partner providing cheminformatics expertise through a dedicated position focused on InChI development, contributing to the standard's maintenance and enhancement.
• RWTH Aachen UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Primary development partner hosting the Technical Director and development team. Work on transitioning InChI to GitHub, bug fixes, and testing protocols takes place at RWTH Aachen, supported by NFDI4Chem project funding.
• IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2009IUPAC is the founding partner of the InChI Trust. The Trust works in partnership with IUPAC to update and release new extensions to and applications of InChI. IUPAC provides scientific oversight through the InChI Subcommittee and governs the standard. IUPAC is a full member of the Trust with representation on the Board of Trustees.
• CAS/American Chemical SocietyprimaryTechnology or IntegrationFull member of the InChI Trust. CAS operates SciFinder, which has incorporated InChIKey for substance searching, providing major chemical database integration with the InChI standard.
• Royal Society of ChemistryprimaryTechnology or IntegrationFull member of the InChI Trust. RSC operates ChemSpider and publishes chemical literature, integrating InChI for structure identification across their platforms.
• Elsevier/RELXprimaryTechnology or IntegrationFull member of the InChI Trust. Elsevier operates Reaxys and numerous scientific databases that use InChI for chemical structure representation.
• Springer NatureprimaryTechnology or IntegrationFull member of the InChI Trust. Springer Nature publishes scientific literature and databases incorporating chemical identifiers.
• WileyprimaryTechnology or IntegrationFull member of the InChI Trust. Wiley publishes chemical literature and databases that utilize InChI for compound identification.
• NIH (National Institutes of Health)primaryTechnology or IntegrationFull member of the InChI Trust. NIH operates PubChem, the major public chemical database that uses InChI/InChIKey for compound identification.
• Chinese Chemical SocietyprimaryTechnology or IntegrationFull member of the InChI Trust, representing Chinese chemistry community participation in standard governance.
• ACD/LabsassociateTechnology or IntegrationAssociate member providing cheminformatics software (ACD/ChemSketch) with InChI generation capabilities.
• CCDC (Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre)associateTechnology or IntegrationAssociate member of the Trust, providing crystallographic data expertise and software integration.
• ChemAxonassociateTechnology or IntegrationAssociate member providing cheminformatics toolkits including MarvinSketch with InChI support.
• NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology)associateTechnology or IntegrationAssociate member. NIST was the original site of InChI development (1999-2009) under IUPAC auspices, and continues as a supporter of the standard.
• OpenEye Scientific SoftwareassociateTechnology or IntegrationAssociate member providing molecular modeling software with InChI support.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• ChemAxon: Commercial cheminformatics software company whose Marvin toolkit and MarvinSketch editor integrate InChI/InChIKey generation. As a leading chemistry software vendor with overlapping developer and end-user audiences, ChemAxon is the most directly comparable proprietary peer to InChI Trust's open-source standard.
• ACD/Labs: Developer of ACD/ChemSketch and other chemistry software with built-in InChI generation. ACD/Labs is an Associate Member of the InChI Trust and a directly comparable chemistry software specialist.
• OpenEye Scientific Software: Provider of molecular modeling and cheminformatics software (e.g., OEChem Toolkit) with built-in InChI support. OpenEye is an Associate Member of the InChI Trust and a similarly sized, niche specialist in chemistry informatics.
• Daylight Chemical Information Systems: Cheminformatics tooling company and originator of the SMILES notation, which preceded InChI. Daylight's toolkits embed InChI conversion and address overlapping developer audiences in the chemical informatics community.

Emerging players

• RDKit: Open-source cheminformatics toolkit widely used in both academic and commercial settings, with built-in InChI generation. RDKit is an embedded consumer of InChI and a community-driven emerging player in the same developer ecosystem.
• OpenBabel: Open-source chemical file format conversion toolkit with InChI conversion support. OpenBabel addresses a similar community-developer audience and is part of the broader open cheminformatics ecosystem.

Broad incumbents

• CAS (Chemical Abstracts Service): Operator of SciFinder, the world's most comprehensive chemical database, which incorporates InChI/InChIKey for substance searching. CAS is both a major consumer and a Full Member of the InChI Trust, and a much larger incumbent in chemical information.
• BIOVIA (Dassault Systèmes): Provider of enterprise chemistry and molecular modeling software suites including BIOVIA Draw, which integrates InChI generation. As part of Dassault Systèmes' broader 3DEXPERIENCE platform, BIOVIA is a much larger incumbent with overlapping but broader scope.

Others

• CCDC (Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre): Nonprofit that maintains the Cambridge Structural Database and develops crystallographic software. CCDC is an Associate Member of the InChI Trust and an adjacent standards-and-data organization in the chemistry domain.
• IUPAC: The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry — InChI Trust's founding partner and the body that provides scientific oversight and governs the InChI standard through its InChI Subcommittee. IUPAC is the institutional anchor of the standard rather than a competitor.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xbsky.app/profile/inchi-trust.bsky.social
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/inchi-trust

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about InChI Trust