Industrial Vanguard Vol. 37

Week of September 8, 2025

Author

Joe Tenbusch
September 12, 2025

Introduction

It’s been a busy week across the industrial tech landscape. AI continues to make waves, from chemistry breakthroughs at CuspAI to quantum bets hitting multibillion-dollar valuations. Critical minerals and magnet supply chains are seeing fresh investment, while copper and battery players are pushing into new territory. Robotics and logistics startups are attracting big checks, signaling confidence in automation at every level of industry. At the same time, private equity firms are warning of shakeouts ahead, even as new venture funds and CVC arms hit the market. Taken together, these moves point to a sector in transition — consolidating where scale matters, while doubling down on innovation where the upside is still wide open.

Materials

  • AI for Chemistry: CuspAI raised $100M to accelerate material discovery with DeepMind alumni at the helm. Fortune

  • Rare Earth Magnets: JS Link America to invest $223M in a Georgia magnet plant, strengthening U.S. supply chains. Mining.com

  • Critical Minerals: Glencore’s former recycling chief launched a new processing firm targeting secure supply of key inputs. Reuters

  • Copper Consolidation: Anglo American’s purchase of Teck Resources forms one of the world’s largest copper miners. Axios

  • Biomaterials: AMSilk raised €52M to scale silk-based biopolymers. PRNewswire

  • Battery Startups:

    • Dallas-based ACT-ion closed $7.5M for lithium-ion materials. Dallas Innovates

    • LeydenJar secured €23M to expand silicon anode production. FinSMEs

Energy

  • Power & Culture: A perspective on AC, AI, and Vegas’ Sphere highlights the cultural imprint of energy systems. Axios

  • LNG Outlook: New analysis on where liquefied natural gas supply will come from. Axios

  • Storage & Tech Funding:

    • ACT-ion raised $4M extension for battery tech. FinSMEs

    • Otovo USA secured $4M+ for solar marketplaces. FinSMEs

    • Kora Power launched with Moneta and Growth Factory backing. BizJournals

    • florrent closed $9.5M Seed-2. FinSMEs

    • Sapphire Technologies raised $18M Series C. FinSMEs

    • Nuclearn secured $10.5M Series A for nuclear digitalization. FinSMEs

    • Solenery closed CAD 750K pre-seed. FinSMEs

    • Enersee raised €4M late-seed for energy data optimization. FinSMEs

  • Rare Earth Breakthrough: Energy Fuels advanced magnet production in North America. Mining.com

Design & Development

  • Semiconductors: Amkor moved its $2B facility to a larger Arizona site. Manufacturing Dive

  • AI & Quantum Bets:

    • ASML invested $1.5B in Mistral, doubling its valuation to $14B. The Information, WSJ

    • Klein-backed SPAC merged with Infleqtion in a $1.8B quantum deal. Bloomberg

    • PsiQuantum reached $7B valuation as investors bet on quantum’s AI-like trajectory. FastCompany

    • Perplexity closed at a $20B valuation. The Information

    • Scintil Photonics raised $58M Series B. FinSMEs

Manufacturing

  • Industrial Policy: Finland nationalized Valmet and Ioncur as CATL exited. Automotive World

  • Robotics Surge:

    • Alibaba led $140M in X Square Robot. Bloomberg

    • Mechanism Capital disclosed investment in humanoid robotics startup Apptronik. Mechanism Capital

    • Hive Robotics secured €2M for multi-domain robot collaboration. Tech.eu

Supply Chain & Logistics

  • AI in Logistics:

    • Augment, founded by Deliverr’s founder, raised $85M Series A for AI-powered logistics. TechCrunch

    • HappyRobot raised $44M to scale AI freight agents. Reuters

    • Pathwork closed $3.5M Seed to optimize supply coordination. FinSMEs

Recycling

  • Battery Breakthrough: Ascend Elements became the first in North America to produce recycled lithium carbonate from spent Li-ion batteries. GlobeNewswire

Venture Capital & Private Equity

  • New Funds & Platforms:

    • Ann Arbor-based VC launched an $80M fund for university spinouts. Crain’s Detroit

    • CoreWeave launched CoreWeave Ventures, its corporate venture arm. VCWire

  • Industry Shifts:

    • Leading PE players warn of looming consolidation as fundraising grows tighter. Axios

    • A solo GP from Bangkok is building a bridge for U.S.-Southeast Asia startup capital flows. WSJ

Markets, Policy & News

  • Space Infrastructure: Rendezvous Robotics exited stealth with $3M to build reconfigurable orbital platforms. TechCrunch

  • IPO Watch: Blockchain lending company Figure surged in its public debut, signaling investor appetite for fintech/infra hybrids. Barron’s

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