Tagged: hydrometallurgy
2 results
Still Bright
Still Bright is a Newark, New Jersey hard-tech company reinventing how the world makes copper. Its patented RACER process (Rapid and Complete Electrochemical Reduction) soaks copper-bearing ore and mine waste in a vanadium-based solution that pulls the metal out in minutes at room temperature and pressure, then uses electricity to regenerate the solution - a trick borrowed from vanadium flow batteries. The result: up to 99% copper recovery with equipment that runs 70-90% cheaper than traditional smelters and produces no toxic emissions. Founded in 2022 by CEO Randy Allen and CTO Jon Vardner, the company raised $18.7M in seed funding in 2025 and is scaling toward pilot production of domestic, clean copper.
Ranulfo Allen
Ranulfo (Randy) Allen is the co-founder and CEO of Still Bright, a New Jersey deep-tech startup using a vanadium-based electrochemical process to pull refined copper out of ore - and out of mine waste - at room temperature and pressure, no smelter required. A Princeton-trained chemical engineer with a Stanford PhD and a Dartmouth MBA, Allen spent years on the other side of the table as a venture investor and startup mentor before deciding to build the thing himself. Still Bright raised an $18.7M seed in 2025 led by Material Impact and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, betting that the looming copper shortage is solvable if you stop burning rock and start running electricity through it.