ChemFinity Technologies

25 Impact VCs X 3 Top Startups to Watch = 75 Frontrunners in Climate This week, I asked 25 investors who are their 'ones to watch' across North America. Together, they reveal an incredible roundup of some of the most exciting talent scaling across the Continent. From unlocking geothermal heating and cooling to rebuilding North America’s rare-earth supply chain and scaling battery-electric railcars to advancing the production of Sustainable Aviation Fuel, these 75 startups are bursting with potential say these 25 Investors: Jasmin Kern at Lever VC Sean O'Sullivan at SOSV Rachel Slaybaugh at DCVC Sahaj Kumar at Counteract Lukasz Skarka at InnoEnergy Carl Choi at Alumni Ventures Evan Nisselson at LDV Capital Mark Dryden at WIND Ventures Laura Fox at Streetlife Ventures Evaline Tsai, at Gigascale Capital J.P. Keating at proChain Ventures Shuo Yang at Lowercarbon Capital Craig Wilson at Collaborative Fund Micah Kotch at Blackhorn Ventures Darren Clifford at Adapt [us] Capital Janelle Goulard at Pangaea Ventures Aly Hudson at New System Ventures Josh Grehan at Helios Climate Ventures Cvic Innocent at Frankenbuild Ventures Oscar Williams, at Visionaries Tomorrow Karen Sheffield, at Pachamama Ventures Dominic Go at Nomadic Venture Partners Anna Trendewicz at Future Energy Ventures Paul Seidler at Evergreen Climate Innovations Murat Aktihanoglu at Remarkable Ventures Climate Which startup would you add to the list? Or which investor would you like to hear from next? Let me know in the comments below and I'll do my best to include them next time 🪄

We’re thrilled to share that our portfolio company, ChemFinity Technologies, a company pioneering high-performance recovery systems for critical minerals, announced an oversubscribed $7 million seed round, with participation from Closed Loop Partners' Ventures group. The round takes place as demand for critical minerals escalates in the U.S., exacerbated by declining ore quality, higher associated processing costs in primary sourcing, and stricter environmental regulations for these materials. The capital will accelerate the company's piloting efforts and scale deployment of its breakthrough sorbent-based technology, which can selectively recover over 20 targeted minerals from complex waste streams at low cost. Read more here: https://hubs.la/Q03MCJKr0 #circulareconomy #ventures #venturecapital #investment #seedinvestment #criticalminerals #technology

Congrats to ChemFinity Technologies on raising their oversubscribed $7M seed 💸⛏️!! I had the privilege of supporting Adam Uliana, Ever Velasquez, Maria Paley, Ph.D., Alyssa C. & team during our Breakthrough Energy fellowship and got to be a boots-on-the-ground extension of the team to push their thinking around economic viability. So proud & excited for how far they've come, and the impact they'll have on building a more robust and scalable #criticalminerals industry! Check out their announcement here: https://lnkd.in/eskkdUKU #CriticalMinerals #CircularEconomy #SupplyChainResilience #MadeInUSA #Sustainability

We’re excited to share Overture’s investment in ChemFinity Technologies $7M Seed round. ChemFinity is reshoring domestic refining of critical minerals. We’re honored to lead this round alongside At One Ventures, with co-investments from Pace Ventures, Closed Loop Partners, WovenEarth Ventures, and Climate Capital. To learn more about why we're backing co-founders Adam Uliana, Ever Velasquez, and the entire Chemfinity team, check out this piece by Overture Sr Principal Allison Hinckley, PhD: https://lnkd.in/evSYZaSa

🎉 Congratulations to the ChemFinity Technologies team on their $7m seed round! With countries like the U.S. importing 80% of critical minerals and demand projected to grow, securing a domestic supply has become a national priority for many. Yet it takes over 15 years to bring new mines online, and current recycling processes are outdated. ChemFinity is revolutionizing critical mineral recovery with a technology that delivers 3x lower costs and 100x lower environmental impact than traditional mining, securing a domestic and sustainable supply of critical minerals. We first met Adam Uliana and Ever Velasquez in 2023, and after quite some convincing (they kept on winning grants!), we became their first and sole institutional investors in their pre-seed. We've been consistently impressed by their dedication, work ethic, and ability to move and learn extremely fast. We're thrilled to continue supporting them alongside At One Ventures and Overture Ventures, as well as Closed Loop Partners, WovenEarth Ventures, and Climate Capital! 🔗 Read more about why we invested: https://lnkd.in/evMv_-a2

CRITICAL MINERALS 💧: ChemFinity Technologies, a New York City-based company pioneering high-performance recovery systems for critical minerals, has raised an oversubscribed US$7 million seed round. The round was co-led by At One Ventures and Overture Ventures, with participation from Closed Loop Partners, Pace Ventures, WovenEarth Ventures, and Climate Capital. The funds will accelerate ChemFinity Technologies’ piloting efforts and scale deployment of its breakthrough sorbent-based technology, which can selectively recover over 20 targeted minerals from complex waste streams at low cost. “In a world increasingly dependent on critical minerals, the ability to extract and refine them domestically, cleanly, and affordably is paramount,” said Dr Adam Uliana, co-founder and CEO of ChemFinity Technologies. “Our platform addresses one of the most difficult bottlenecks in both national security and the energy transition: reliable, local access to high-purity critical minerals, all while dramatically lowering the cost and environmental footprint of recovery.” Spun out of University of California, Berkeley in 2022, ChemFinity has invented sorbents that offer record-breaking recovery efficiencies and exceptional durability, including in hydrometallurgical conditions. Dr Ever Velasquez, co-founder and CTO of ChemFinity Technologies, said: “Our systems are designed to integrate readily into existing infrastructure, and we look forward to expanding deployment with other industrial leaders who share our mission of onshoring a circular minerals supply chain.” 👉 Read more here: https://lnkd.in/ehjYZRsF #filtrationandseparation #criticalminerals #sorbents #seedfunding

When it comes to securing critical metals, we are on the struggle bus. 🚍 Just last week the US administration proposed nearly $1 billion in funding to speed the development of domestic critical minerals and materials. It's truly a "critical" issue... What if, instead of ⛏️ mining more, you could re-use what's already been mined? ♽ For example, catalytic converters contain platinum, palladium, and rhodium, which can be recycled. Other e-waste from consumer electronics (circuit boards, connectors, memory chips, capacitors, and switches) all contain precious metals. But much of this is just discarded. Over $60 billion in recoverable metal value is stranded in waste streams every year. ChemFinity, founded by UC Berkeley-trained chemical engineers Adam Uliana and Ever Velasquez have developed a way to recover high-purity metals from waste locally, faster, and with dramatically lower emissions. Their proprietary polymer sorbents act like molecular sponges — rapidly capturing target metals even from complex, acidic mixtures. These are reusable, modular, and can be deployed onsite, closing the gap between waste and usable feedstock. The economics are compelling: 2–3X lower cost than conventional methods, faster payouts, and over 99% reductions in CO₂, water, and energy per kilogram of recovered metal. Today we're announcing our investment in ChemFinity Technologies alongside Overture Ventures with participation from Pace Ventures, Closed Loop Ventures LP, WovenEarth Ventures, and Climate Capital.  The $7M Seed round will accelerate its pilot-scale deployment, scaled sorbent production, and collaboration with North American recyclers, starting with high-value metals like platinum-group metals before expanding to over 20 additional targets. It feels natural to support a company whose ambition mirrors ours: To reshape industry from inside-out with radically better unit and environmental economics. Welcome, ChemFinity, to the At One portfolio! Read more about why we invested here: https://lnkd.in/eVkEsua8 Hi-tens 🙌🏾 to Alisha Jani, Tony Moses and Helen Lin for their leadership and hard work on this deal.

Big announcement!📢 ChemFinity Technologies has raised an oversubscribed $7M Seed Round, co-led by At One Ventures and Overture Ventures, to scale our proprietary, high-performance sorbent filters to recover and recycle critical minerals from domestic waste streams. The funding includes participation from Closed Loop Partners, Pace Ventures, WovenEarth Ventures, and Climate Capital. ♾️Why it matters: Critical minerals are essential raw materials to key defense, manufacturing, and energy technologies. However, over 80% of U.S. critical minerals are imported from foreign countries, creating significant national security and environmental issues. 🚀Enter ChemFinity: To meet this demand, we’re creating low-cost, high-performance, and modular recovery solutions to enable recyclers, miners, and refiners to produce metals domestically, cleanly, and cheaply. Our tech uses advanced sorbent materials that we tune on the atom-scale to act like nano-sponges, harvesting one targeted mineral at a time. 🛠️What’s next: We’ll be scaling production, growing our team, and producing critical minerals from wastes that would otherwise be landfilled, starting with precious metals like platinum. We’re always looking to connect with industrial partners, metals companies, and recyclers to advance our sorbent technology. Huge thanks to our incredible investors and partners supporting our vision and mission to power the energy transition and secure U.S. supply chains. Now back to building! More here: https://lnkd.in/epN4mAHc #CriticalMinerals #CircularEconomy #SupplyChainResilience #MadeInUSA #Sustainability