Vancouver-based pH7 Technologies has closed its Series B round at nearly $32 million USD, after securing another $6.2 million to commercialize its critical mineral extraction technology.
The company has layered on $7.5 million in venture debt from RBCx—its second facility of this kind from the bank. This gives pH7 more than $39 million in total financing to deploy as it prepares to build more critical metal recycling plants for platinum group metals—precious metals commonly used in electronics—around the world, and begin bringing its tech to mining sites, starting with copper and gold.
“We are at the intersection of climate tech as well as critical metal and supply [chain] resilience, so that helped.”
Demand for critical minerals is on the rise thanks to the proliferation of AI data centres, the ongoing clean energy transition, and defence spending growth. At the moment, China dominates the critical mineral mining and refinement markets, posing significant supply chain risks for other countries that depend on them, at a time when geopolitical tensions have led many nations, including Canada, to make sovereignty a priority.
pH7 aims to help meet this demand with its critical metal extraction tech, which is designed to help mining companies, recyclers, and original equipment manufacturers sustainably extract high-value metals like copper and platinum from low-grade ores, tailings, and other materials that were once considered waste.
“What we’re trying to do with pH7 is [close] this supply gap,” pH7 founder and CEO Mohammad Doostmohammadi told BetaKit in an exclusive interview.
The BC cleantech firm has developed a closed-loop, organic electrochemical process for extracting critical metals. Doostmohammadi claims that pH7 can help clients do this locally in a cheaper and more environmentally-friendly fashion than traditional methods.
Since 2025, pH7 has been showcasing its capabilities at the company’s 30,000 square-foot demonstration plant in Burnaby, BC, which Doostmohammadi said is now generating “meaningful revenue.”
After proving its ability to extract critical minerals from there, the CEO said pH7 is ready to begin doing so on a larger scale by embedding it at partners’ mining sites and establishing new recycling facilities of its own globally.
RELATED: At Web Summit Vancouver, BC wants to let the world know its cleantech hub is open for business
pH7’s latest capital, which came from a pair of first-time backers, Japanese chemical manufacturer Asahi Kasei and the Circular Innovation Fund, adds to the initial $25.6 million in Series B funding pH7 announced in December.
pH7 held the final close of its equity Series B financing and secured this venture debt in late March. Doostmohammadi said that while it took pH7 longer than expected to complete the round, it ultimately beat its initial $30-million target despite a challenging fundraising market.
“We are at the intersection of climate tech as well as critical metal and supply [chain] resilience, so that helped,” Doostmohammadi said.
The round was led by Fine Structure Ventures, with support from fellow new investors BHP Ventures, Energy & Environment Investment, Siteground, Gaingels Fund, and Calm Venture. Existing backers TDK Ventures, Pangaea Ventures, Rhapsody Venture Partners, and BASF Venture Capital also all participated in the first close.
This final close brings pH7’s total equity funding to $55 million. The CEO claimed pH7’s Series B was an up round relative to its $16-million Series A but declined to share its valuation.
Doostmohammadi said the 40-person company is currently processing ores from over 20 partners—which include investor and mining giant BHP—at its existing facility. pH7 hopes to begin doing so at mining sites in 2027 and 2028.
Feature image courtesy pH7 Technologies.