Lithios

Last week's MIT students & alumni pitch night was a blast. Co-hosted with SBXi, MIT Sandbox's fund, and Robert Harrington. We had the chance to hear from 3 great founders: 1. Isaac Lutz at Aptamino is using protein design to enable oral antibody delivery.  2. Zachary Kabelac at Aperture Space is building new satellite sensing systems with applications in agriculture, disaster mitigation, and defense. 3. David Anderson at engora.tech building chat interfaces for hardware spec sheets and design docs. Shout out to my fellow judges who both recently raised capital, Daniel Carballo from Encora Therapeutics & Mohammad A. Alkhadra from Lithios. Pillar VC

Lithios CEO and co-founder Mohammad A. Alkhadra sat down with Boston Globe Media's Hiawatha Bray to discuss Advanced Lithium Extraction (ALE) and what new domestic sources of Lithium—like those recently discovered in Arkansas’ Smackover Formation—mean for the industry and US energy independence. Lithios's ALE process is uniquely positioned to succeed in regions like the Smackover because of its high efficiency and low resource intensity: ALE uses 4-5x less water and consumes 10x less energy than competing brine processing methods. Read the full Boston Globe article here: https://lnkd.in/e4ajgDik 

“Beyond optimizing for short-term performance, we need to start switching to using batteries and designing battery systems to be sustainable." That starts with identifying more sustainable and economical methods of producing Lithium, like Lithios's ALE process. In this feature, Lithios Co-founder and Chief Scientist Martin Bazant shares how his background in physics, mathematics, and chemical engineering led him to co-found Lithios in 2022 with former student Mohammad A. Alkhadra, CEO. Thank you MIT Industrial Liaison Program for a great feature! Read more here: https://lnkd.in/eYRPbe2r

Kick off Climate Symposium 2024 with two exciting panels that set the stage for innovation and sustainability in transportation and nature-based solutions. Morning Panels (Starting at 11:00 AM): 1. Sustainable Supply Chains: Greening Transportation As the world strives to reduce its carbon footprint, the transportation sector plays a crucial role. This panel will explore key building blocks for transforming transportation to make it cleaner, more efficient, and sustainable. Mohammad A. Alkhadra (Lithios), Tomoaki Ichida (Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd.), and Gene Gebolys (World Energy, LLC) will discuss innovations and challenges in greening transportation infrastructure, fuel efficiency, and technology. Moderated by Brett Atkinson (Harvard Business School), this conversation will address essential shifts in supply chain dynamics that align with global sustainability goals. 2. Restoring Balance: Evaluating the Role of Nature-Based Solutions in the Climate Challenge Nature-based solutions (NBS) offer a promising approach to address climate change through forest restoration, plastic-eating microbes, and other innovations rooted in the natural world. Panelists Rodrigo Wanderley (Pachama), Sukanya Punthambaker, Ph.D. (Breaking.), and Janna Jiang (Rubicon Carbon) will discuss the efficacy, scalability, and economic potential of NBS. Moderated by Malak Abu Sharkh (Lowercarbon Capital), this session explores how natural solutions can reshape markets and reduce emissions, creating a sustainable path forward. For more info visit https://lnkd.in/dr8VzF5w #ClimateSymposium2024 #SustainableFuture #GreeningTransportation #NatureBasedSolutions #ClimateInnovation

We're #hiring! Lithios is seeking an Engineering Technician to help develop, scale, and deploy our #electrochemical Advanced Lithium Extraction (ALE) technology. If you or anyone you know is excited about joining a fast-growing startup transforming Lithium recovery, please apply or share this opportunity! For more information and to apply: https://lnkd.in/dvxg6w3i #cleantech #climatetech

Thank you to TechCrunch and Tim De Chant for a great conversation earlier this month! We enjoyed speaking about the origins of Lithios's ALE platform, challenges facing existing methods of lithium production, and how using electrochemistry promises a step change improvement in lithium extraction. The ALE capture process is designed to minimize energy and freshwater use and to work in diverse geographies, unlocking new sources of lithium with significantly less impact to the environment.

We’re thrilled to share that Lithios has received $499,320 through U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ARPA-E's SPARKS program to advance our Advanced Lithium Extraction (ALE) technology. The SPARKS award provides rapid support for potentially disruptive energy technologies and we’re honored to be one of just two companies receiving the award this year.   Learn more about our project here: https://lnkd.in/giNwFxyV

We're hiring! Lithios is seeking a Head of Engineering to lead the development, scaleup, and deployment of our #electrochemical Advanced Lithium Extraction (ALE) technology. If you're a natural leader with a track record in engineering, product development, and/or project execution, this role may be for you! For more information and to apply, click here: https://lnkd.in/g_F_fqZM

Thank you to everyone who joined us to celebrate the opening of our new facility in #Medford, MA! Special thanks to event speakers Daniel Goldman, Dr. Luis Ortiz, Dr. Emily Reichert, and Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn as well as our institutional investors and partners Clean Energy Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, TechEnergy Ventures, GS Futures, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, and Silicon Valley Bank. You can learn more about what this facility means for boosting domestic lithium supplies here: https://lnkd.in/eQnHvRPW.

An exciting day here celebrating our new Pilot & Manufacturing facility, where we will be building first-of-a-kind electrochemical platforms to produce thousands of tons of #lithium carbonate annually. On the heels of our $12 million funding announcement, we hosted an opening ceremony and facility tour with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) ARPA-E Deputy Director for Commercialization Luis A. Ortiz, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center CEO Emily Reichert, Clean Energy Ventures Managing Partner Daniel Goldman, and #Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn. As our CEO Mohammad A. Alkhadra noted during the ceremony, “As lithium becomes an increasingly critical yet scarce component for electric vehicle and stationary storage batteries, Lithios is focused on unlocking more lithium sources to accelerate the energy transition." Thank you to all the electeds, investors, partners and customers who attended and celebrated with us! More on what this facility means for boosting domestic lithium supplies here: https://lnkd.in/eQnHvRPW