Princeton Critical Minerals has raised $16 million in combined equity and non-dilutive funding to scale technologies designed to improve lithium production from brine resources. The financing includes an $11 million Series A round led by SOSV, with participation from the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, Prospect Innovation, ASTOR Management AG, Black Forest Ventures and the New Jersey Economic Development Authority through the New Jersey Innovation Evergreen Fund.
The Princeton University spinout has also recently secured more than $5 million in grant funding from the National Science Foundation, ARPA-E and NJEDA.
Princeton Critical Minerals, or PCM, plans to use the capital to scale manufacturing, expand commercial deployments, build U.S.-based production capabilities and continue developing its lithium production technology platform.
The company is focused on brine resources, which it says contain more than half of the world’s lithium reserves along with other critical minerals.
PCM’s platform combines evaporation enhancement, AI-enabled pond monitoring and selective crystallization.
The technologies are designed to help lithium producers increase throughput while reducing energy consumption, chemical use and operational complexity.
PCM is targeting both conventional brine operations and emerging direct lithium extraction workflows.
Traditional brine production can require significant land, long development timelines and extensive permitting and infrastructure.
Meanwhile, PCM said direct lithium extraction technologies can face downstream concentration costs, high energy requirements and challenges associated with scaling production.
The company’s technologies are intended to bridge those approaches by improving enrichment, monitoring and processing while integrating with existing lithium production infrastructure.
PCM has already deployed its Lilypad technology in Chile, one of the world’s largest lithium brine markets.
The system has been integrated directly into existing commercial evaporation ponds processing naturally occurring mineral-rich underground water.
That deployment marks PCM’s transition from pilot work into active commercial production environments.
The company is also field-testing two additional technologies in Chile focused on evaporation enhancement and AI-powered optimization of lithium production processes.
PCM plans to launch additional pilot projects in the country as it expands its integrated technology platform.
At the same time, the company is preparing for commercial deployments in the U.S. amid increased government support for domestic critical mineral production and supply-chain infrastructure.
PCM said customer interest includes some of the world’s largest lithium producers, creating an opportunity to expand sales as it increases manufacturing capacity.
The company sees lithium demand broadening beyond electric vehicles as stationary battery storage, AI data centers, robotics, drones and wider electrification increase demand for batteries and critical minerals.
The new financing will support PCM as it moves from technology development and early commercial deployments toward a larger production and sales footprint across the U.S. and South America.
KEY QUOTE:
“Lithium demand has moved far beyond the demand for electric vehicle batteries. Battery storage, AI data centers, robotics, drones, and broader electrification are all converging on the same constrained critical mineral supply chain, lithium first and foremost. Energy storage is becoming foundational infrastructure for both the digital economy and energy security. Our novel technology system results in higher production, with lower cost in a shorter time.”
Sean Zheng, Co-Founder And CEO Of Princeton Critical Minerals
