When ChemFinity co-founders Adam Uliana and Ever Velasquez joined the Breakthrough Energy Fellows program, they made waves as one of the youngest startups ever selected. They finished graduate school the day before joining and had no lab space, nor were they sure where to base their operations. What they did have, however, was cutting-edge technology that promised to tackle one of the most urgent challenges of the energy transition: the critical mineral shortage.

As the world shifts to renewable energy, the demand for critical minerals has never been higher. The World Bank estimates that by 2050, we’ll need a staggering 3 billion tons of metals and minerals to power the global transition. Now, as ChemFinity graduates from the Fellows program, they are at the forefront of solving the critical minerals challenge and accelerating the clean energy transition.

ChemFinity’s “nano sponge” technology

The idea for ChemFinity was born from Adam and Ever’s PhD research at UC Berkeley while working under renowned materials chemist Professor Jeffrey Long. Their original goal was to tackle the energy-intensive desalination process, which is essential for clean drinking water and industrial processes but depends heavily on fossil fuels.

Once the team began working with BE Business Fellows on product-market fit, they pivoted their focus from desalination to critical mineral recovery. Adam and Ever describe the design of their platform technology as building with “atomic-scale Legos,” creating carefully tuned materials that separate and recover individual metals from complex mixtures. ChemFinity’s technology leverages highly tunable sorbents—tiny, bead-like structures that act like selective filters for individual metals—and specialized membranes that can separate these materials efficiently. Adam uses the analogy of a “nano sponge” that only soaks up a single metal at a time. This modular approach opens the door to more efficient metal recovery from various waste sources, such as mining waste, wastewater, and e-waste.

The challenges of launching a climate start-up

“We started ChemFinity from day one of the Fellows program, figuring out everything from where we’d set up a lab to how to build the company infrastructure,” Adam shared. It was a fast-paced learning experience as Adam and Ever navigated foundational steps like securing a lease, deciding on a geographic location, and recruiting top talent—all while learning how to run a company. They needed to build a team of highly skilled experts to continue growing and adapting their technology, and fast.

Being part of the Breakthrough Energy network enabled that rapid learning and growth. “The camaraderie within the Fellows program allowed us to build relationships and seek advice from other founders,” Ever shared. “The ability to connect with Business Fellows and other experienced entrepreneurs helped us make quicker and more informed decisions.”

Breakthrough Energy Fellows also provided the financial support needed to set up a lab, which was crucial for both obtaining more funding and advancing the development of ChemFinity’s technology. “We traveled around the country, looking at 15 different cities for different lab spaces before landing on the perfect spot,” Ever explained. New York City eventually became home to their pilot lab, where they began scaling their materials production from milligrams to kilogram levels.

Navigating market opportunities

The Fellows program provided a community of innovators and business experts to support the company’s development and enabled ChemFinity to scale up production and build prototypes. The most critical support for Adam and Ever, however, came in finding the right market fit for their product.

ChemFinity’s versatility is a major asset, but it presented a challenge of focus in the beginning. Adam and Ever knew they needed to target sectors where their technology would have the most significant impact. They worked with BE Business Fellows to navigate a complex industrial landscape, conducting hundreds of customer discovery interviews and in-depth market analysis.

“Breakthrough Energy’s guidance was invaluable—it helped us move quickly and make key decisions on the fly, like finding the best product-market fit for our platform technology,” Ever explained. “They helped us explore over 100 potential markets, narrowing down to what made the most sense for both climate impact and market viability.”

Ultimately, they narrowed their beachhead focus to recycling—specifically, the recovery of critical minerals from e-waste and catalytic converters. This market offered a sustainable solution to global supply shortages, especially in light of the increasing demand for metals in clean technologies like electric vehicles. The BE Business Fellows that Adam and Ever worked with throughout the program also helped with operational efficiency, fundraising strategies, and techno-economic analyses—crucial components for a startup in its early stages.

What’s next for ChemFinity?

ChemFinity has made remarkable progress in a short time. They’ve scaled up their material production to kilogram levels, built prototypes, and demonstrated their technology’s ability to extract pure metals from real waste. Their next step is to commercialize pilots of this technology by creating a fully integrated, continuous system that can process waste and recover critical minerals on a larger scale.

For Adam and Ever, it’s not just about the technology. ChemFinity is also dedicated to making a meaningful social impact. As a minority-owned company, they prioritize fostering diversity and inclusion within their workforce. To date, 88% of their employees come from underrepresented backgrounds. They have also launched a series of internship programs in New York City, providing opportunities for local students—many of whom have gone on to secure positions at top-tier companies like Tesla and Morgan Stanley.

“Building a world-class team has been one of the most exciting parts—bringing together experts who are pushing the boundaries of what we can accomplish,” Adam explained.

ChemFinity just kicked off their Seed round of fundraising – their first dilutive round to date. They’re excited to partner with top climate and hard tech firms and investors who want to join them in their mission toward commercialization and scale-up.

The bigger picture? A sustainable future for all.

ChemFinity’s mission goes beyond creating a profitable business; it’s about addressing the global need for critical minerals in a responsible and innovative way. The demand for these materials is skyrocketing, and the traditional methods of mining these minerals are fraught with environmental and geopolitical challenges to be sustainable.

ChemFinity’s recycling solution aims to meet this rising demand while reducing environmental impacts and creating more localized, sustainable supply chains for critical materials. As they continue to grow, ChemFinity is poised to make a significant impact in the global quest for sustainable climate technologies.