Sunchem

What Sunchem does

Sunchem is a Berkeley, California-based nanotechnology company founded in 2020 that has developed a patented nanofiltration-based hydrometallurgical process for recovering critical and precious metals from waste streams, mining concentrates, and ore. The company's core technology claims 99% metal recovery rates and 99% purity output for gold, copper, silver, and silicon, using less energy and milder chemical conditions than conventional smelting or cyanide leaching. Operations are run from a single processing facility at 2300 Fourth St, Berkeley, CA, where feedstocks are received and refined metals are produced.

Sunchem serves four enterprise verticals — e-waste recycling, device manufacturing, solar panel end-of-life processing, and mining — and actively solicits electronic waste and scrap suppliers as feedstock partners. The company operates a B2B industrial services model, most likely charging per-batch processing fees or taking a share of recovered metal value, with pricing provided on a quote basis. Distribution is direct to enterprise counterparties globally, though formal geographic expansion beyond California has not been announced.

The company is a Cyclotron Road alumni (Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's DOE Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program) and has been supported by Halliburton Labs, Rio Tinto, the National Science Foundation, ARPA-E, the California Energy Commission, and CalSEED, with a disclosed Founders Factory investment in September 2024. Sunchem won Best Overall Venture at the NREL Industry Growth Forum 2025 and 3rd place at the UC Berkeley Haas Cleantech2Market Conference 2025, and was featured in Forbes in October 2024. Headcount is 1-10 employees, revenue is undisclosed, and the company remains in a pre-commercial or pilot-scale stage.

Name

Sunchem

Legal name

Sunchem

Website

https://sunchem.io

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Sunchem is a Berkeley, California nanotechnology company that uses a patented nanofiltration process to recover gold, copper, silver, and silicon at 99% purity from e-waste, manufacturing scrap, solar panels, and mining ore, serving industrial enterprise clients with a direct B2B processing model.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Metal Recovery Services

NAICS

Nonferrous Metal (except Aluminum) Smelting and Refining (33141), Materials Recovery Facilities (56292)

SIC

Secondary Smelting & Refining Of Nonferrous Metals (3341), Metal Mining (1000)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYIMAKAMAG

E-Waste & Electronics Metal Recovery (ITAD, Circuit Boards, Precious Metal Recovery)

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Metals & Mining/Scrap Metal & Recycling (Ferrous & Non-Ferrous)

SECONDARYIMAKALAE

Leaching & Hydrometallurgical Beneficiation (Heap/Dump/Vat; Bioleaching)

Industrials, Manufacturing & Construction/Metals & Mining/Mineral Processing & Beneficiation

SECONDARYBPALADAF

Metals Recycling & Processing (Ferrous/Non-Ferrous)

Business & Public Services/Waste Management & Remediation Services/Recycling & Materials Recovery (MRFs, Sorting, Processing)

Keywords

• Metal recovery services
• Nanofiltration technology
• E-waste recycling
• Critical metals extraction
• Hydrometallurgical processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Berkeley

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Metal Recovery Services: Sunchem processes waste streams, concentrates, and ore to recover critical and precious metals (gold, copper, silver, silicon). The company likely charges fees for metal recovery services or takes a portion of recovered metals as payment. They actively seek electronic waste and scrap suppliers as feedstock.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Sunchem operates a patented nanofiltration-based hydrometallurgical process that recovers 99% of metals (gold, copper, silver, and silicon) from waste streams, concentrates, and ore at its Berkeley, CA facility. The service uses less energy and milder chemical conditions than smelting or cyanide leaching, yielding 99% pure metal output for enterprise clients in e-waste, device manufacturing, solar panel recycling, and mining.

Product overview

Sunchem offers a single unified metal recovery technology platform. The core product is a patented nanofiltration-based process that recovers 99% pure metals (gold, copper, silver, and silicon) from waste, concentrates, and ore. The company operates a recovery facility in Berkeley, CA and serves multiple industries including e-waste, device manufacturing, solar panels, and mining. The technology is positioned as a low-cost, highly selective, and sustainable alternative to traditional smelting or cyanide leaching methods.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Precision Metal Recovery Service (Nanofiltration Platform)

Quantifiable outcome

• 99% metal recovery rate from waste streams
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Halliburton LabscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSunchem joined Halliburton Labs as a participant, gaining access to industry expertise, mentoring, and potential commercial partnerships within the energy and industrial services ecosystem. Halliburton Labs is an accelerator focused on energy transition and decarbonization.
• Lawrence Berkeley National LaboratorycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCyclotron Road, housed at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, supported Sunchem as an alumni company. The DOE Lab-Embedded Entrepreneurship Program provides resources, facilities, and expertise for technology commercialization.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Li-Cycle: Resource recovery company processing end-of-life batteries and electronics to recover critical materials (lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper). Comparable as a clean-tech hydrometallurgical metals recovery player serving electronics-adjacent waste streams.
• Excir: Emerging player developing selective chemical recovery of precious metals (gold, palladium, platinum) from printed circuit boards and e-waste. Highly comparable end-market (e-waste) and feedstock (circuit boards) to Sunchem.
• Cyclic Materials: Recycling company focused on recovering rare earth elements and other critical metals from end-of-life products using hydrometallurgy. Comparable as a clean-tech metal recovery platform with an emphasis on critical materials circularity.
• Redwood Materials: Battery recycling and critical materials company recovering lithium, cobalt, nickel, and copper from end-of-life batteries and production scrap. Comparable as a well-funded, sustainability-led metals recovery startup, though focused on batteries rather than e-waste broadly.

Direct peers

• Nth Cycle: Electro-hydrometallurgical platform that recovers critical and precious metals (including nickel, cobalt, copper, and PGMs) from e-waste, manufacturing scrap, and low-grade ore. Closest functional analogue to Sunchem's nanofiltration-based metal recovery value proposition.
• Aqua Metals: Hydrometallurgical metal recovery company using water-based processes instead of smelting to recover valuable metals, including from battery materials and e-scrap. Shares Sunchem's positioning as a low-emission alternative to pyrometallurgical refining.
• EnviroLeach Technologies: Hydrometallurgical/chemical leaching process company targeting precious and base metal recovery from e-waste, mining concentrates, and ores. Directly comparable chemistry-based approach to Sunchem's non-cyanide, milder-condition metal recovery.

Broad incumbents

• Umicore: Global materials technology and recycling group with substantial precious and specialty metals refining operations, including e-waste and automotive catalyst recycling. Represents the established incumbent benchmark Sunchem aims to disrupt with lower-impact chemistry.
• Boliden: Major European metals and mining company operating smelters and recycling facilities for copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals. Direct incumbent competitor in metals recovery from concentrates and secondary feedstocks.
• Glencore: One of the world's largest diversified miners and metal recyclers with global smelting and refining operations, including copper, zinc, lead, and precious metals. Represents the largest-scale incumbent competing for the same waste-stream feedstock opportunities.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights5 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sunchem

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors3 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sunchem