San Francisco-based Transition Metal Solutions has raised $6 million in an oversubscribed seed round led by Transition Ventures, with backing from SOSV, Dolby Family Ventures, Astor Management AG, Juniper VC, Climate Capital, and new investors including Possible Ventures, Understorey Ventures, New Climate Ventures, Essential Capital, and Kayak Ventures.

The startup develops chemical additives that enhance naturally occurring microbes in copper ores. Its platform studies the microbial communities already present in a mine and predicts which nutrients or chemicals will unlock higher copper yields. Early lab tests on low-grade sulfide ores improved copper recovery from 60% to 90%, while more complex ores showed metal leaching three times faster than conventional methods.

Founder and CEO Dr. Sasha Milshteyn said the company’s approach taps into what nature already provides, without the need for lab-grown microbes or extra infrastructure. COO Alexandra Shiluk added that the platform is designed to be cheap, fast, and easy for miners to adopt at scale.
The funding comes as global copper demand rises, driven by renewable energy, electric vehicles, and AI data centers. Copper is now on the U.S. Critical Minerals List, and richer deposits are nearly depleted. Transition Metal Solutions aims to help miners extract more copper from low-grade and challenging ores.

The company, founded in 2023 as Transition Biomining and rebranded to reflect its chemical-biological approach, is based at UC Berkeley’s Bakar Labs for Energy & Materials. Its leadership includes Dr. Suzan Yilmaz heading R&D, Vania Grandi leading go-to-market efforts, and Dr. Peter Kondos on the board.

Clara Ricard, partner at Transition Ventures, said the company offers a low-emission, scalable alternative to smelting that could reshape the industry. SOSV partner Pae Wu highlighted how the scientific insight behind the platform can translate directly to higher returns for miners without extra overhead.

The seed funding will support scaling from lab tests to industrial pilot trials, including 3-meter column experiments planned for the first half of 2026. Transition also plans to extend the platform to other critical metals, such as nickel, cobalt, gold, and zinc.

Blinq Mobility raised INR 4.3 crore in a pre-seed round. The deal was led by 8i Ventures. IIMA Ventures, AIC Banasthali Vidyapith, Pharos Ventures, and Operators Studio took part. A group of angel investors also joined, including Neil Shroff, Arun Kumar Mahala, and Sarita Ahlawat.

The cash will go toward product development and vehicle engineering. It will also help build battery systems and swapping stations. Some will fund pilot programs with ride-hailing partners. The Blinq team said the best way to handle EV power is to swap batteries fast instead of charging.

Blinq Mobility builds electric vehicles with battery swapping for city use. The setup targets high-use fleets like logistics and ride-hailing to cut costs and downtime. The company works in India with support from places like ARAI.

Enerzolve Smart Technologies has closed a USD 5.1 million seed round. Jungle Ventures and Kae Capital co-led the deal. Several startup founders also took part.

The company will put the capital into stronger manufacturing and further product development for smart grid and energy storage lines. It plans to grow pilot manufacturing and get key certifications for its hardware. The engineering team will expand for testing, validation, and bigger deployments. Part of the money will build deeper own tech in embedded systems, firmware, and silicon work.

Enerzolve develops embedded and power electronics solutions for smart grids, renewable energy integration, and battery storage. Its products include protection relays, smart meters, analyzers, grid monitors, batteries, management systems, converters, and inverters. The company serves industrial and commercial customers in India.

Naxatra Labs raised USD 3 million in a Pre-Series A round. The deal was led by Rainmatter. A group of angel investors took part, including Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Delhivery co-founder Mohit Tandon.

The funds will go toward ramping up production to 50,000 motors per month. They will also support more R&D on new motor types for industrial uses. Part of the money will build the export side and make India a stronger option for these parts.

Vishvesh from Rainmatter said the firm likes founders who tackle hard issues with basic innovation. He added Naxatra fits this well by making key electromagnetic devices fully in India. The team looks set to make a real impact.

Naxatra Labs builds high-efficiency electric motors like axial-flux and radial-flux types. These offer strong torque in small packages for electric vehicles and farm machinery. The company handles everything in-house from design to assembly and operates in India.

Aurassure raised INR 25 crore in a pre-Series A round. That is around USD 3 million. The round was co-led by Rainmatter, the investment arm of Zerodha, and Unicorn India Ventures. Maithan Alloys Limited joined as well.

The money will go toward international expansion. It will also fund product development and scaling of hardware manufacturing. The company plans to target markets in Latin America, South Asia, and Africa. These are regions with high climate risks and limited reliable data. Aurassure already has a subsidiary in Brazil.

It has rolled out deployments in more than 100 cities there. Pilot projects are underway in Bangladesh. In India, the startup operates in 200 cities with over 2,000 sensors. Revenues have grown 150 percent year-on-year since its last round in 2023.

The startup aims to reach 1,000 cities over the next three years.It will expand its sensor network and add more enterprise clients.

Aurassure is a climate intelligence platform. It provides real-time hyperlocal environmental risk data. The platform uses street-level sensors, satellite inputs, and AI models to track air quality, heat stress, rainfall, flooding, and wind patterns. It serves enterprises and public-sector users.

SuperCircle raised $24 million in Series A funding. Foundry led the investment. Others include BBG Ventures, Renewal Fund, and Elemental Impact. The platform handles end-of-life textiles for retail brands.

Investors see it solving retail’s waste issues. Nearly $163 billion in unsold goods get discarded yearly. Over 85% of textiles go to landfills. SuperCircle turns waste into value while meeting new EPR rules. It works with 75+ partners like J.Crew, GUESS, Reformation, FIGS, and Parachute Home.

The funding speeds tech development, supply chain links, processing sites, data for compliance, and new retailer sign-ups. Its AI sorts items by 50+ data points for best reuse or recycle paths. No items go to landfill. It has diverted 6 million textiles so far, aiming for over 1 billion by 2030.
Chloe Songer, CEO and co-founder, said she saw huge write-offs in retail early on. SuperCircle gives scalable paths for trade-ins and supply chain waste like returns and scraps.

Nisha Dua from BBG Ventures said it creates revenue from waste. Jaclyn Hester from Foundry said it brings visibility to end-of-life handling.

SuperCircle runs a platform for textile waste from apparel, shoes, and home goods. It uses AI to route items to reuse or recycling for retailers across the US and Canada. The system covers consumer trade-ins and back-end supply chain waste.

SimpleClosure, founded in 2023, has raised just over $20 million from investors including Infinity Ventures, TTV Capital, Anthemis, The LegalTech Fund, and Carta. The company's founder and CEO, Dori Yona, came up with the concept after experiencing the complexity of shutting down a company.

SimpleClosure is expanding its vision with the launch of Asset Hub, a marketplace designed to help founders recover value from their assets, such as source code, operational data, domain names, and equipment.

According to Yona, the company has seen strong year-over-year growth in startup shutdown activity, with 2.6x more companies closing in Q1 2026 compared to Q1 2025. The Asset Hub aims to capture the value of these assets, which often evaporate during the shutdown process.