Princeton Critical Minerals, a startup spun out from Princeton University, secured $16 million in funding to scale its brine-based lithium extraction platform. The company plans to deploy its technology across operations in the U.S. and South America.
The funding round addresses a critical bottleneck in the clean energy supply chain. Lithium demand has surged as electric vehicle production accelerates and battery storage deployments expand globally. Traditional brine extraction methods, primarily concentrated in South America's "lithium triangle" spanning Chile, Argentina, and Bolivia, operate slowly and yield inconsistent results. Evaporation ponds can take 12-18 months to produce harvestable lithium carbonate.
PCM's platform targets these inefficiencies through accelerated brine processing that increases extraction rates and reduces operational timelines. The technology addresses both speed and yield constraints that have limited lithium supply expansion despite growing demand from automakers and battery manufacturers.
The U.S. Geological Survey estimates global lithium reserves at 98 million tonnes, with South American brine deposits holding roughly 58 percent of accessible reserves. However, extraction capacity lags demand projections. The International Energy Agency projects lithium production must triple by 2040 to meet net-zero climate goals and EV proliferation targets.
PCM's expansion into South American markets directly targets major brine reserves in Chile and Argentina, where geological conditions favor the company's approach. U.S. operations position the company to support domestic battery manufacturing growth following investments from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act.
The capital injection enables commercial deployments at scale, moving PCM beyond pilot operations into revenue-generating contracts. Success at commercial scale could reduce lithium production costs and timelines, easing supply constraints that currently force battery makers to secure long-term contracts at premium prices.
Competing technologies include direct lithium extraction (