# Alta Resource Technologies

> Alta Resource Technologies is a Boulder, Colorado deep-tech startup using engineered proteins to selectively separate rare earth elements and other critical minerals from low-grade ores, mining tailings, and electronic waste. Its 'precision mining' platform, licensed from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and co-developed with Pennsylvania State University, binds individual metals with high selectivity, aiming to cut the cost and environmental damage of conventional chemical refining while helping secure a domestic U.S. supply of materials used in EVs, wind turbines, electronics, and defense systems.

- **Founded:** 2023
- **Headquarters:** Boulder, Colorado, United States
- **Founders:** Nathan Ratledge (Co-Founder & CEO), Nicolas Daffern (Co-Founder)
- **Team size:** ~35 employees
- **Products:** Protein-based mineral separation platform, Precision mining service, Technology licensing / partnerships
- **Notable:** Raised a $10M Series Seed round (2025) co-led by DCVC and Voyager Ventures., Attracted investment from In-Q-Tel, the CIA's strategic venture arm., Secured roughly $1M in grant funding from DARPA and the State of Colorado.

## Products & services

- **Protein-based mineral separation platform** — Custom-engineered proteins immobilized on resin columns that selectively bind and release individual critical minerals - including rare earth elements like neodymium, praseodymium, and dysprosium - from solution, achieving high purity and selectivity beyond conventional chemical or thermal methods.
- **Precision mining service** — Extraction and separation of critical minerals from low-grade ores, mining tailings, and electronic waste streams with lower environmental and health impact than solvent-extraction refining.
- **Technology licensing / partnerships** — A biochemistry platform, built on IP licensed from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and co-developed with Penn State, positioned for B2B partnerships across the critical-mineral supply chain.

## Achievements

- Raised a $10M Series Seed round (2025) co-led by DCVC and Voyager Ventures.
- Attracted investment from In-Q-Tel, the CIA's strategic venture arm.
- Secured roughly $1M in grant funding from DARPA and the State of Colorado.
- Licensed core protein-engineering IP from Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory.
- Announced plans to build a shipping-container-scale pilot facility in 2025.

## Latest updates

- **2025-01** — Raised $5.1M seed round led by DCVC and Voyager Ventures; publicly debuted its protein-based mineral separation platform.
- **2025-05** — Expanded the seed round to $10M with an additional $4.4M, adding In-Q-Tel as an investor to scale protein-based critical-minerals technology.

## Links

- Website: https://altatech.io
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/alta-resource-technologies

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/alta-resource-technologies
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-07