Presidio Ventures makes strategic investment in Lilac Solutions, plans to leverage Sumitomo Corp of Americas’ Network to enhance value of lithium extraction technology.
Presidio Ventures, a Sumitomo Corporation of Americas (“SCOA”) Group Company, has joined a Series B funding round for Lilac Solutions, Inc. (“Lilac”), a lithium extraction technology company headquartered in Oakland, CA. Lilac will use the funds from this round to continue expansion of its global team, build a dedicated factory in the United States to produce the company’s unique ion-exchange beads, and deploy Lilac’s lithium extraction technology at multiple projects throughout the United States, South America, and Europe.
Mr. Doug Kuribayashi, CEO of Presidio Ventures.
We’re excited to contribute to the sustainable expansion of the world’s Lithium’s supply through our investment into Lilac solution.
“We believe that Sumitomo Corporation of Americas’ expertise and significant experience in the management and operations of the mining business, together with its global network in trading raw materials for battery production, will add value to Lilac Solutions in the future.”
Lilac’s lithium extraction technology is significantly more effective, faster to deploy, less expensive and more sustainable than conventional lithium production methods. Their Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology unlocks new untapped brine resources that contain low lithium and high impurities, an area deemed unusable until recently.
Dave Snydacker, CEO and Founder of Lilac Solutions, said
Electric vehicles are a low-carbon success story and are poised for decades of growth, but the lithium raw materials needed for batteries have become a serious bottleneck.
“The lithium industry has been plagued with technical and environmental problems that have put future supply in jeopardy. Lilac’s technology solves the fundamental challenges of lithium production from brine resources, and our team is thrilled to deploy globally with support from investors like Presidio Ventures and its parent company, SCOA.”
Serving as SCOA’s venture capital arm, Presidio Ventures anticipates myriad opportunities to help scale and apply Lilac’s unique solution throughout the company’s vast business network. SCOA has extensive experience within the global mining sector and possesses a wide network of industry partners and suppliers.
Lilac’s technology has the potential to catalyze Lithium production and increase supply, a welcome solution to the growing demand for global electrification.
Lithium is used in the development of batteries for mobile phones, laptops and tablets, and most notably electric vehicles. According to IEA’s Global EV Outlook, electric car registrations increased in all major markets in 2020 despite the COVID-19 pandemic, and 18 of the 20 largest OEMs have committed to increase their offer and sale of EVs.
With these figures driving the automotive industry toward electrification, the lithium supply chain is going to be a tremendous player in satisfying this consumer demand.
Presidio Ventures Makes Strategic Investment in Lilac Solutions, Inc.; Plans to Leverage Sumitomo Corp of Americas’ Network to Enhance Value of Lithium Extraction Technology, NEW YORK, October 6, 2021
