Princeton Critical Minerals (PCM), a startup developing technology to boost lithium production from brine, has raised $16 million in combined equity and non-dilutive funding as surging demand for lithium collides with growing pressure to expand critical-mineral supplies.

 

The financing includes an $11 million Series A 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.

 

PCM has also secured more than $5 million in grants from the National Science Foundation, ARPA-E and NJEDA.

 

Founded from research at Princeton University, PCM is developing a technology platform aimed at making lithium extraction from brine faster, cheaper and more scalable. Brine—mineral-rich subterranean or industrial saltwater—accounts for more than half of the world’s lithium reserves, according to the company.

 

PCM combines enhanced evaporation, AI-powered pond monitoring and selective crystallization to increase production while reducing energy consumption, chemical use and operational complexity.

 

“Lithium demand has moved far beyond the demand for electric vehicle (EV) batteries,” said Sean Zheng, co-founder and CEO of PCM. 

 

"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.”

 

The company is targeting a major bottleneck in the lithium industry: expanding production quickly enough to meet demand.

 

Traditional brine operations can require vast land areas, lengthy development timelines, extensive permitting and major infrastructure investments. Newer direct lithium extraction technologies face their own hurdles, including downstream concentration costs, high energy requirements and challenges scaling from pilot projects to commercial operations.

 

PCM says its technology is designed to work alongside both conventional and emerging production methods, allowing producers to improve enrichment, monitoring and processing without completely rebuilding existing operations.

 

The company has already moved beyond the laboratory. PCM recently deployed its Lilypad™ technology in Chile, where some of the world’s largest lithium brine resources are located. The system was integrated into existing commercial evaporation ponds processing naturally occurring, mineral-rich underground water, marking a transition from pilot testing to active production.

 

PCM is now preparing for commercial deployments in the United States as government support for domestic critical-mineral infrastructure expands.

 

The company is also field-testing two additional technologies in Chile: one designed to enhance evaporation and another using AI to optimize production processes. Together, the systems form what PCM describes as an integrated platform designed to increase lithium output while lowering production costs.

 

The new funding will support manufacturing scale-up, additional commercial deployments, U.S.-based production capabilities and continued development of PCM’s core technology.

 

Following the industrial-scale deployment of Lilypad, PCM plans to launch two additional pilot projects in Chile focused on evaporation enhancement and AI-powered process optimization.

 

PCM says customer demand is growing, including from the world’s largest lithium producers, putting pressure on the company to accelerate sales and deployment of its technology as the race to expand lithium supply intensifies.