Element Zero, a Perth, Australia-based green materials platform company, raised US$10M in Seed funding.
The round was led by Playground Global.
The company intends to use the funds to grow R&D, engineering, and project development teams and scale the development of a pilot iron plant.
Led by Michael Masterman, Founder and CEO, Element Zero has created a low-temperature mineral processing platform that utilizes renewable energy to convert iron ore to iron. This non-aqueous electrochemical process allows it to process iron ores; this includes the core 95% of Australian and Brazilian global trade in iron ore. Currently, lower grade iron ore cannot be processed using hydrogen-fed direct iron reduction or other lower carbon processing technologies. The technology has been tested on iron ore, nickel, and other future facing metals. The lower temperature also allows Element Zero to run this process on intermittent renewables like wind, solar, and hydropower.
Commenting on the news, Michael Masterman, said: “We are excited to have Playground Global join our journey to tackle the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors. Support from Playground Global goes way beyond financial investment, and we are already in deep discussions about developing green iron and green silicon value chains in the U.S. We are also working with major iron ore miners and iron and steel companies globally.”
FinSMEs
17/01/2024