DCVC and Voyager co-lead investment in startup harnessing customized proteins to separate critical minerals, starting with rare earth elements; nearly $1M in government grants also secured

January 07, 2025 10:15 AM Eastern Standard Time

BOULDER, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Alta Resource Technologies, a pioneer in using advanced biochemistry to transform mineral separation, today announced it has raised $5.1 million in an oversubscribed seed round co-led by DCVC and Voyager Ventures, with participation from Orion Industrial Ventures, Overture, and WovenEarth Ventures.

“What fracking did for oil and gas technologically, Alta is poised to do for critical minerals, and the geopolitical and economic implications could be just as profound”Post this

Alta, whose technology uses custom-designed proteins that act like microscopic robots to separate high-purity rare earth elements and other critical minerals with unprecedented selectivity and cost-effectiveness, is poised to dramatically reduce the environmental footprint of mining while expanding access to essential raw materials. As it emerged from stealth mode, Alta also announced that it has secured nearly $1 million in grant funding from the federal government, including the Department of Defense’s DARPA, and the State of Colorado. Earlier funding was provided by Baruch Future Ventures and Climate Capital (now Juniper).

As demand skyrockets for the critical minerals that power electric vehicles, consumer electronics, and advanced defense systems, the U.S. faces a supply crunch, remaining heavily dependent on imports, especially from China. Without new approaches, shortages of rare earth elements and other key metals threaten to derail the energy transition, stunt economic growth, and potentially undermine national security. The global market for rare earth elements, valued at roughly $10 billion today, is projected to grow to $30-50 billion over the next decade as demand far outstrips supply from conventional sources.

“Biology has solved the problem of ultra-selective mineral separation over billions of years, but translating that into practical applications has been elusive – until now,” said Alta Co-Founder and CEO Nathan Ratledge, PhD. “Our technology leverages specially engineered proteins that can bind to specific metals with unprecedented selectivity, even at low concentrations in complex mixtures. By deploying these proteins in a continuous, scalable process, we can unlock vast untapped mineral resources here at home, strengthening our supply chains and national security while setting a new standard for environmentally responsible mining.”

Alta’s advanced biochemistry platform, which leverages technology licensed from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory co-developed with collaborators including researchers at Pennsylvania State University, represents a step-change over existing approaches. The ability to tailor proteins to bind selectively to individual elements greatly expands the scope and scale of what’s possible in mineral separation and processing. With its first products, the company aims to increase supplies of rare earth elements like neodymium and dysprosium – essential for electric vehicle motors, wind turbines, and defense technologies – by cost-effectively separating them from abundant low-grade sources and end-of-life products that cannot be processed using conventional methods.

“What fracking did for oil and gas technologically, Alta is poised to do for critical minerals, and the geopolitical and economic implications could be just as profound,” said James Hardiman, General Partner at DCVC. “It exemplifies our thesis that the deepest science and engineering can solve the hardest global problems and create immense commercial value at the same time. The market is clamoring for solutions, and Alta has assembled an unsurpassed team at the perfect moment to seize a generational opportunity.”

The Series Seed financing will enable the company to expand its technical team, further develop and de-risk its platform in collaboration with Lawrence Livermore, and deploy it across a growing range of metal targets, ore types, and waste streams. By unlocking new ways to provide high purity, domestic critical minerals at previously unattainable low costs, Alta aims to catalyze a long-overdue mining technology revolution just as demand hits an inflection point.

“Alta is pioneering an entirely new approach to critical mineral production through advanced biochemistry,” said Voyager Ventures Investment Director Leo Banchik, PhD. “The team has developed a breakthrough platform that combines advanced protein engineering with industrial-scale processing to extract and refine critical materials with unprecedented efficiency at breakthrough cost levels. This creates both an incredible business opportunity and a chance to secure strategic mineral supply chains. We’re thrilled to help build a company with such transformative potential.”

About Alta Resource Technologies

Alta Resource Technologies is on a mission to reinvent mining by using advanced biochemistry to cost-effectively source the critical raw materials needed to power next-generation technology and bolster economic security. By leveraging customizable proteins to separate high-purity rare earth elements and other essential minerals from previously untapped sources with unprecedented selectivity, Alta is expanding access to vital resources while dramatically reducing the environmental impact of mining. With support from top investors, research partners, and federal and state government, Alta is poised to catalyze a long-overdue revolution in mining technology and secure the domestic supply of critical resources for the 21st century economy. For more information, visit www.altatech.io.

About DCVC

DCVC is deep tech venture capital. Over more than a dozen years, the firm has backed brilliant entrepreneurs using computational approaches to solve trillion-dollar problems in the real world across a broad set of industries, especially those that haven’t seen material progress in decades. With billions of dollars of assets under management, DCVC builds long-term relationships with the founders it backs. The firm has been with many of its companies from their very start — and through to their recognition by the public markets as category-defining businesses. For more information, please visit www.dcvc.com, or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter @DCVC.

About Voyager Ventures

Built on three decades of climate technology expertise, Voyager Ventures invests in exceptional technology companies creating the foundations of a new, decarbonized economy. The VC firm is led by experienced climate technology investors, founders, company-builders and policymakers who know how to invest and build for scale. Voyager brings its expertise, experience and networks to accelerate the success of ambitious early-stage founding teams in North America and Europe, investing in both hardware and software companies driving decarbonization worldwide. For more information, please visit www.voyagervc.com.

Contacts

Media Contact:
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