Foundation Alloy raises $22M to scale solid-state metal production

Foundation Alloy, an early-stage startup developing solid-state alloying technology, has raised a $22 million Series A round—a stage of early-stage venture capital financing. The funding round was led by Voyager Ventures. The startup’s technology replaces traditional melting methods with a solid-state process that smashes metal powders together to form new alloys. This process aims to reduce energy usage and create new material properties, addressing traditional manufacturing limitations.

According to co-founder and CEO Jake Guglin, the company’s solid-state process uses around an order of magnitude less energy than traditional melting methods. Traditional alloying requires melting different metals in a pot, which can leave voids that make the resulting material brittle or susceptible to heat. Instead of melting, Foundation Alloy uses a process that smashes metal powder particles together. “We’re actually smashing metal powder particles together instead of melting them,” Guglin said. This method allows the company to create unique material properties by processing the metal powders differently, bypassing the limitations of traditional melting where metals have vastly different melting points. This allows the company to engineer metals that can withstand both heat and mechanical stress.

The startup aims to scale production to several tons per week by 2027. Foundation Alloy is targeting industries like aerospace and defense, where its metals could soon be used in military drones. In the drone sector, production demands require around 10,000 parts per month, compared to traditional aerospace supply chains that focus on making around 100 parts per year. Beyond defense, the company’s metals could also soon be used in luxury watches and chef’s knives.

To support its expansion, Foundation Alloy has partnered with Kanematsu Corporation, which will distribute the startup’s metals in Japan and Southeast Asia. The $22 million Series A round included participation from a broad group of investors:

• Voyager Ventures (lead)
• Trust Ventures
• Yamaha Motors
• America’s Frontier Fund
• Overlap Holdings
• Material Impact
• Engine Ventures
• El Cap
• Kanematsu Corporation

The technology itself is built on 20 years of scientific research led by researchers Tim Rupert and Chris Schuh, who studied how metals behave at the nanometer scale.

Why it matters

Foundation Alloy’s shift from traditional melting to solid-state processing represents a significant development in material science. The process offers around an order of magnitude in energy savings and enables the creation of new metal alloys designed to withstand both extreme heat and mechanical stress.