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Copper tech crescendo 

Deals of the week

Temperature check

Photo of the week: $5 flight

There's a growing push to use new technology to boost U.S. copper processing amid surging demand from the AI boom.

Why it matters: The U.S. has decent copper resources, but the majority of processing happens in large, toxic smelters overseas, much of it in China.

Copper wires are the building blocks of electrical systems for data centers, the power grid and vehicles.

Zoom in: A number of startups are building new processing technologies and facilities, with backing from major VCs and miners.

Red Metals, backed by Gigascale Capital, Future Ventures and Tesla co-founder JB Straubel, is outfitting its 42,000-square-foot facility with processing, refining and casting equipment, Red Metals CEO Jackson Switzer says.

It also has secured a $3.5 million equipment financing facility with CSC Leasing to fund the project's first phase, says Switzer.

Still Bright is building pilot-scale reactors in Newark, N.J., that use a reusable reagent to electrochemically process copper, with capacity of two tons a year.

Still Bright is weighing a $40 million Series A round in 1Q27, CEO Randy Allen says. It's backed by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, SOSV and Fortescue Ventures.

The VC arm of BHP, which runs the world's largest copper mine in Northern Chile, has backed processing startups Jetti, Ceibo and PH7 Technologies.

Follow the money: It's hard to quantify VC dollars in copper startups, but mining tech funding rebounded after a 2024 slump as deeptech gains favor amid AI-driven pressure on software.

Still, Gigascale Capital founding partner Victoria Beasley, whose firm has backed startups Red Metals and Skouria, says: "I think it's an underinvested in category, and not just from a venture standpoint, but from a total U.S. infrastructure standpoint."

🌊 Scoop: Sizable Energy is raising $25 million to store and generate electricity at sea. Go deeper

🥽 Exclusive: Riven Systems, a startup developing AI and automated lab testing to improve minerals processing, raised $7.9 million in pre-seed funding. Go deeper

⚡️  Scoop: Long-duration battery developer Form Energy raised its latest funding at a $1.75 billion pre-money valuation — down from about $3 billion pre-money in October 2024. Go deeper

💰 Exclusive: Princeton Critical Minerals has raised $16 million in equity and grant funding to increase lithium production. Go deeper

🪨 Exclusive: Principal Mineral acquired Conductive Group, a nickel composite electromagnetic shielding producer, CEO Adam Johnson tells Axios Pro exclusively. Go deeper

🔋 The AI boom is giving a big bump to next-gen batteries, says Gene Berdichevsky, CEO of battery materials maker Sila. Go deeper

🪖 Joby Aviation is buying defense contractor Resonant Sciences in a $500 million deal, as the eVTOL maker pushes further into defense contracting. Go deeper

🏦 Erebor is nearing a $1.5b raise at an $8b valuation, as Palmer Luckey's tech bank hopes to replace SVB in the venture ecosystem. Go deeper

1 big thing: Copper tech crescendo

Illustration of Benjamin Franklin holding a pickaxe. 

👉 GO HERE TO CATCH UP on deals this week.

Finn, a German car subscription provider, raised €140m in Series D equity and debt funding at a $1b+ post-money valuation. Portage led the equity, joined by UVC Partners, Planet First Partners, and Korelya Capital. Debt came from BC Partners Credit and Runway Growth Capital. Go deeper

Goldman Sachs Alternatives agreed to buy Tosca, an Atlanta-based provider of reusable food packaging, from Apax Partners. Go deeper

Vantage Data Centers is weighing an IPO or sale for next year that could value the Denver-based company at around $100b, per Reuters. Vantage backers include DigitalBridge, Silver Lake, ADIA, and GIC. Go deeper

WovenEarth Ventures raised $155m for its second fund, WovenEarth Fund II. Go deeper

2. Deals of the week

Illustration of an electric plug in the shape of a lasso around the words "Energy and climate deals roundup"

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios. Stock: Getty Images

🤖 Autonomous safety: Zoox, the Amazon-backed robotaxi company, told Axios about how it determined that its driverless vehicles were safe to start picking up human passengers.

As Joann Muller reports in Future of Mobility, with no federal performance standards for autonomous vehicles, AV developers largely determine when their cars are safe enough to operate on their own.

🚨 eVTOL ambulance: A paramedic responding to a 911 call in coastal North Carolina recently piloted a "Jetsons"-like personal aircraft to the scene, landing in the patient's yard to begin treatment roughly 20 minutes before ground ambulances arrived, Joann also writes.

Hyde County officials say they're the first in the U.S. to use an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for real 911 calls.

⚡️ Backup fundraise: Agent Energy, a startup that integrates backup generators into the grid during emergencies, raised $11 million in seed funding co-led by Spero Ventures and MassMutual Ventures, Ben Geman reports in Future of Energy.

The year-old startup provides hardware and software that remotely turns on backup generators when grids face emergencies. The approach displaces electricity demand at those sites, freeing up more power for the rest of the grid.

📈 Home battery bump: Retail sales of battery storage and heat pumps jumped in the second quarter, Ben also writes, citing Rhodium Group and MIT researchers.

Rising electricity prices are likely driving the trend. "The growth in residential batteries in the first half of this year coincides with rising electricity prices outpacing inflation," Rhodium research analyst Harold Tavarez tells Axios.

3. Temperature check

Illustration of an earth in a roast pan with a meat thermometer.

Heart Aerospace, a developer of hybrid-electric aircraft, completed the first all-electric flight of its full-size demonstration aircraft, the X1.

Why it matters: The battery-powered plane consumed $5 of electricity during its 27-minute flight over upstate New York.

What's next: The LA-based startup is developing a 30-seat hybrid-electric aircraft for regional flights, with an anticipated range of 500 miles.

Follow the money: Heart Aerospace has raised about $192 million, per Pitchbook, from investors including Alumni Ventures, Breakthrough Energy and Lowercarbon Ventures.

4. Photo of the week: $5 flight

Silhouetted twin-engine turboprop airplane with landing gear down, labeled HEART X1, flying over orange sunset-lit water and hills; sun on the horizon.

Heart Aerospace this week completed an all-electric flight of its full-size demonstration aircraft. Photo: Courtesy of Heart Aerospace

August 15, 2026

1 big thing: Copper tech crescendo