As electronics become ubiquitous in daily life, a Dallas startup is looking to keep the rare earth minerals they are composed of out of the landfill.
Momentum Technologies, a recycling tech company focused on electronic and battery waste, announced Dublin-based industrial company TechMet and local private equity firm Tailwater Capital’s portfolio company Freestone HoldCo, which focuses on infrastructure and manufacturing investments, have inked a definitive agreement to lead a $20 million investment in the company.
“We are now ready to deploy (our technology) at a commercial scale,” said Preston Bryant, Momentum CEO, in a statement. “This partnership will provide valuable financial and operational support as we enter an important new chapter of growth.”
Momentum has an exclusive license to commercialize recycling technology developed by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory and Critical Materials Institute. Called Membrane Solvent Extraction, the tech extracts rare earth elements and high-purity metals from electronic and battery waste, converting it into things like magnets that can be used in applications from wind turbines and electric vehicles to hard drive disks.
“The process reduces total electronic waste and allows Momentum to not only install recycling capacity tailored to specific customer demand but to build recycling plants within close proximity to its customers, significantly reducing additional transportation-related costs and emissions,” the company stated.
With the new funding, Momentum is looking to bring its technology to the marketplace, building out two commercial recycling facilities by the end of next year. Though the company did not disclose where the facilities would be located, it hinted at more facilities in the future.
Momentum was launched in 2016 and has operated relatively quietly. The company began gathering traction and attention earlier this year, after being accepted into Haliburton Labs. The program opens the oil field services giant’s lab facilities, technical expertise and business network to early-stage clean energy startups. According to the DoE's website, Momentum has seven employees.
Founded in 2013, Tailwater is a $3.7-billion asset firm focusing on investment across the energy industry. According to its website, it has completed more than 100 transactions representing more than $22 billion in value.
“Sourcing sufficient critical metals to support the expected exponential growth in battery deployment in electric vehicles, handhelds and stationary power storage will require continued technological innovations in the battery supply chain," said John Schaufele, president of Freestone, in a statement.
