DTE Secures $10M Funding Anchored by Industry Leader Novelis and the EIC Fund
Series A2 financing fuels DTE’s expansion to revolutionize metals production and manufacturing with breakthrough LP-LIBS™ technology
REYKJAVIK, ICELAND – Jun 19, 2023
DTE, a leading innovator in decision support for the metals production and manufacturing industry, is pleased to announce the successful completion of a $10 million Series A2 round to further accelerate DTE’s innovation and expand its reach. The raise includes a distinguished group of investors, with participation by aluminum industry leader Novelis, venture capital firm Metaplanet and the European Innovation Council (EIC) Fund, along with existing investors Chrysalix Venture Capital and Brunnur Ventures.
DTE’s first-in-industry, in-line elemental analysis technology complements and replaces current slow, expensive, and manual methods for process and quality control. Our proprietary LP-LIBS™ sensor technology is uniquely able to deliver reference-grade elemental analysis directly from high-temperature liquid metals in less than 60 seconds from sampling. This breakthrough capability provides enhanced process control and decision support, empowering manufacturers and metals producers with unprecedented insights. From the plant floor to corporate management, our mission is to unlock our customers’ potential to deliver greener, safer, and more efficient products.
“We are delighted to secure this substantial funding round, which is a significant milestone for DTE, validating the transformative potential of our technology,” said Karl Matthiasson, CEO & Founder of DTE. “We are delighted and honored to welcome Novelis, Metaplanet and the EIC Fund as new investors on our journey to transform the metals production and manufacturing industries. The additional capital secured in this funding round finances expansion of our growing sales pipeline and will accelerate our technology and product development capabilities as we continue to push the boundaries of manufacturing decision intelligence and predictive analytics.”
“As a strategic investor, Novelis recognizes the significant potential of DTE’s LP-LIBS™ technology and the opportunities for its deployment within the metals production, manufacturing and recycling value chain,” said Derek Prichett, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development at Novelis “DTE’s solution, with its live elemental analysis capabilities, offers a promising avenue for optimizing production processes and enhancing product quality. In addition to using the technology to support Novelis’ own goals for carbon reduction, which include a 30% reduction by 2026 and net carbon neutrality by 2050 or sooner, we are also excited to aid DTE in their broader mission to help our industry transform towards ever cleaner, more sustainable production.”
“We are impressed by DTE’s unique technology and the potential of their actionable decision support platform to optimize production in the metals industry,” said Marcin Nowak from the EIB, leading the investment on behalf of the EIC Fund. “The EIC Fund is proud to support DTE to create value opportunities as well as streamline and improve efficiencies within the operations of one of Europe’s most energy intensive and emissive industries.”
For more information about DTE and its ground-breaking LP-LIBS™ technology, please visit www.dte.ai
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About DTE
DTE is a leading innovator serving the global metals production and manufacturing industries with powerful real-time and predictive process control intelligence to maximize value, sustainability, safety, and efficiency for all stakeholders.
Composition sampling is critical for process control in metal production, processing and casting, but until now has been manual and mostly empirical, requiring solid samples to be cast from the melt. DTE’s unique, proprietary LP-LIBS™ platform enhances decision support by replacing slow, expensive, manual methods for process and quality control with our first-in-industry contactless elemental analysis solution which delivers reference-grade elemental analysis directly from high-temperature liquid metals in less than 60 seconds.
For more information, please visit www.dte.ai
About Novelis
Novelis Inc. is driven by its purpose of shaping a sustainable world together. We are a global leader in the production of innovative aluminum products and solutions and the world’s largest recycler of aluminum. Our ambition is to be the leading provider of low-carbon, sustainable aluminum solutions and to achieve a fully circular economy by partnering with our suppliers, as well as our customers in the aerospace, automotive, beverage can and specialties industries throughout North America, Europe, Asia and South America. Novelis had net sales of $18.5 billion in fiscal year 2023. Novelis is a subsidiary of Hindalco Industries Limited, an industry leader in aluminum and copper, and the metals flagship company of the Aditya Birla Group, a multinational conglomerate based in Mumbai.
For more information, please visit: www.novelis.com
About Metaplanet
Metaplanet is an early-stage investment firm making long-term bets on contrarians and leveraging the knowledge and network across different sectors. We back mission-driven founders working on positively disruptive deep technologies. Based in Tallinn, Estonia, the company has over 150 companies in its portfolio across sectors such as Artificial Intelligence, Biotech, Crypto, Healthcare, and Transportation.
For more information, please visit: www.metaplanet.com
About the European Innovation Council (EIC)
The EIC is Europe’s flagship innovation programme to identify, develop and scale up breakthrough technologies and game changing innovations. The European Innovation Council (EIC) has been established under the EU Horizon Europe programme. It has a budget of €10.1 billion to support game changing innovations throughout the lifecycle, from early-stage research to proof of concept, technology transfer, and the financing and scale up of start-ups and SMEs.
The strategy and implementation of the EIC is steered by the EIC Board, which has independent members appointed from the world of innovation (entrepreneurs, researchers, investors, corporates and others from the innovation ecosystem). The EIC takes a pro-active approach to managing funding under the leadership of EIC Programme Managers who develop visions for innovation and technology breakthroughs and steer portfolios of projects to achieve these goals. A unique feature of the EIC is that it provides funding for individual companies through both grants and investments, which currently take the form of direct equity or quasi-equity investments and are managed by the EIC Fund.
For more information, please visit eic.ec.europa.eu
About Chrysalix Venture Capital
Chrysalix is a technology focused venture capital firm that builds, mentors and connects high growth companies. Founded in Vancouver, Canada in 2001, and with offices also in Delft, Netherlands, Chrysalix has built its reputation on bringing disruptive innovation to the world’s largest industries by focusing on where technology meets physical science. The firm’s investments include breakthrough technologies like smart mining, power conversion chips, sensors for process automation and control, fast charging electric vehicle infrastructure, battery intelligence, CO2 capture, wastewater management, and fusion energy. Chrysalix has one of the strongest investment teams in the industry with deep energy, industrial technology and entrepreneurial expertise, and is backed by more than 20 international blue-chip industrial and financial investors. The Chrysalix RoboValley Fund is the firm’s second fund under management focused on industrial innovation.
For more information, please visit: www.chrysalix.com
About Brunnur Ventures
Brunnur Ventures is venture capital firm based in Iceland focused on seed and early-stage investments, emphasizing innovation and growth, combined with scalable business models and extraordinary entrepreneurial talent. Brunnur Ventures currently manages two funds, Brunnur I and Brunnur II, with fund operation and administration provided by Landsbref, a fund management company licensed by the Icelandic Financial Supervisory Authority.
For more information, please visit: www.brunnurventures.com
Contact Information
Karl Matthiasson, CEO
DTE ehf.
Tel: (+354) 617 1326
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain certain forward-looking statements concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of DTE (“the Company). All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance, or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. All forward-looking statements contained in this press release are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. You should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this presentation. The information in this presentation is subject to updating, completion, revision, further verification, and amendment without notice and the Company does not undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information.
