University of Texas spinout targets US gallium and scandium supply gaps

[Ben Graham]

The University of Texas at Austin has launched Supra Elemental Recovery, a spinout to recover high-purity gallium, scandium and other critical minerals from domestic waste streams, amid growing concern over fragile critical mineral supply chains in the United States.

The US is 100% import-dependent on gallium and scandium, elements essential to semiconductors, aerospace, energy, defence and communications. China dominates global supply through capital-intensive and environmentally hazardous refining methods, leaving billions of dollars’ worth of critical minerals locked in US industrial byproducts, mine tailings and electronic waste each year.

Supra says its proprietary platform combines the advantages of traditional solvent extraction and ion exchange into a non-toxic process that delivers up to 100× greater selectivity and speed, lowering costs while improving performance. The company is initially focused on semiconductor supply chains, with validation underway for other elements including cobalt and lithium used in batteries, magnets and electronics.

“Every year, billions of dollars’ worth of critical minerals are trapped in domestic waste streams, from industrial byproducts and mine tailings to electronic waste,” Co-founder and chief executive Katie Ullmann Durham said in a statement. “By profitably recovering these elements, we can secure the inputs needed for America’s advanced manufacturing future.”

Co-founder and chief operating officer Jordan Sessler said separating critical minerals at high purity is known to be difficult. He said that by refining multiple elements from multiple sources, Supra is positioned to deliver much-needed supply chain resilience.

The technology builds on federally supported research at UT Austin, a leading US centre for materials science and engineering. Mark Arnold, associate vice-president of Discovery to Impact and managing director of Longhorn Ventures at UT Austin, said the company reflects the university’s focus on translating research into market-ready solutions that strengthen US industrial leadership.

Funding

Alongside its launch, Supra closed an oversubscribed $2 million pre-seed round led by Crucible Capital, with participation from the UT Seed Fund, Climate Capital, Portmanteau Ventures and Pew Protection Trust.

“The bottleneck between domestic resources and secure supply is refining capacity,” Meltem Demirors, founder and general partner at Crucible Capital, said. “Supra is building that capability with a proprietary new approach to producing critical materials in the US.”

The funding will support further development and preparation for commercial pilots expected in 2026.