ChemFinity Technologies, co-founded by Dr. Adam Uliana (CEO) and Dr. Ever Velasquez (CTO), has raised an oversubscribed $7 million Seed round. The round was co-led by At One Ventures and Overture Ventures, with additional backing from Closed Loop Ventures Group, Pace Ventures, WovenEarth Ventures, and Climate Capital. This funding will accelerate the company’s ability to commercialize its nanoengineered sorbent filters, which enable scalable, energy-efficient recovery of more than 20 critical minerals from domestic waste streams.

Transforming Mineral Recovery With Tunable Sorbents

ChemFinity’s technology targets a national vulnerability: over 80% of the United States’ critical minerals are currently imported. Demand is only expected to intensify with the clean energy transition, defense needs, and the rapid growth of electrification. The company’s sorbent filters, often described as “metal-selective Brita filters,” are inspired by advanced chemistry research at UC Berkeley. These materials selectively capture and release specific metals with high precision, allowing recyclers and refiners to reclaim rare earths, copper, platinum-group metals, and even remove harmful contaminants like PFAS.

By scaling from lab beakers to industrial pilot reactors, ChemFinity has proven that its modular sorbent systems are both affordable and adaptable. The approach offers recyclers and refiners a method to extract value from feedstocks such as catalytic converters, solar panels, mining byproducts, and wastewater streams without the prohibitive costs of legacy processes.

The Playbook Hidden in ChemFinity’s Growth

The deeper story here isn’t just about new chemistry - it’s about how founders can turn deep science into industry-wide disruption by focusing on wedge entry points. Instead of attempting to overhaul entire mining or recycling systems from day one, ChemFinity identified pain points where incumbent solutions are weakest: costly, inefficient separation processes that often leave valuable minerals unrecovered. By tackling these “economic blind spots,” they entered the market where resistance to adoption is lowest, creating a beachhead for scaling.

This is a critical lesson for founders: the fastest route to redefining an entrenched industry isn’t selling a grand vision alone, it’s proving immediate ROI at the weakest link in the chain. ChemFinity’s early pilots show that if you solve an overlooked inefficiency with undeniable economics, incumbents become partners rather than competitors. The strategic insight here is that deep tech adoption doesn’t start with the loudest disruption, but with the smallest unavoidable win.

Investor Confidence in Category Creation

The caliber of ChemFinity’s backers highlights the scale of opportunity. Climate-focused investors like At One Ventures and Overture Ventures see the company’s platform as not just incremental innovation but infrastructure-level transformation. Their bet is on a category-defining approach - one where advanced sorbents could underpin everything from mining and recycling to industrial wastewater management.

Investors emphasize that the technology’s selectivity and efficiency make it orders of magnitude better than current alternatives. The ability to produce high-purity metals with lower energy and water usage directly translates into competitive cost advantages, which is precisely the kind of traction that can unlock adoption across industries long resistant to change.

Scaling Toward Impact

With its fresh $7 million, ChemFinity will expand production of its proprietary sorbents from lab-scale grams to daily kilograms, enabling real-world industrial applications. The team will also scale its pilot programs with recyclers and refiners and grow its Brooklyn-based R&D and operations staff to meet demand.

The company’s ambition extends beyond critical minerals alone. Its sorbent systems represent a modular platform that could transform how society manages material flows, recapturing valuable resources from what was once considered waste. From electrification supply chains to environmental remediation, ChemFinity is building infrastructure that enables both economic and environmental resilience.

The Vision for a Circular Future

At its core, ChemFinity is tackling a dual challenge: securing domestic access to critical minerals and reducing the environmental footprint of material sourcing. By engineering filters that recover metals from e-waste, mining tailings, and industrial wastewater at ambient conditions, the company is redefining what sustainable resource extraction looks like.

This approach doesn’t just strengthen U.S. supply chains; it anchors the foundation of a mineral circular economy. By turning discarded materials into valuable inputs, ChemFinity is ensuring that the clean energy transition has the raw materials it needs - without compounding the environmental costs of traditional mining.