The Problem Nobody Has Solved

Supra, built with co-founder Jordan Sessler, is building a next-generation critical minerals separation and refining platform. Its initial targets of gallium and scandium are essential to semiconductors, aerospace, energy, defence and communications. The United States, their target market, is currently 100% import-dependent for both.

"Critical minerals are essential to modern life," Katie says, "yet existing methods to produce and refine them are often expensive, difficult to deploy, and environmentally hazardous."

China has dominated the critical minerals market for decades through capital-intensive and environmentally damaging refining processes. Meanwhile, billions of dollars worth of critical minerals sit trapped in domestic US waste streams, be it industrial byproducts, mine tailings, electronic waste. All of it going unrecovered for want of a viable extraction technology. That is the gap Supra is closing.

A Platform That Changes the Economics

The technology Supra has developed out of the University of Texas at Austin takes a fundamentally different approach to the refining problem. Where incumbent methods are slow, toxic and expensive, Supra's system is modular, reusable and selective at a level the industry has not previously seen.

"Every year, billions of dollars worth of critical minerals are trapped in domestic waste streams," Katie says. "By profitably recovering these elements, we can secure the inputs needed for America's advanced manufacturing future."

Early results show the platform is over 90 times more selective than existing separation and refining technologies, an advantage that translates directly into higher purity outputs and lower processing costs. Beyond gallium and scandium, the platform is also being validated for cobalt, lithium and lanthanides used in batteries and magnets, making the potential range of application significant.

Why the Rio Tinto Partnership Changes Everything

For a technology that has proven itself in academic settings, the most pressing challenge is the leap from controlled lab conditions to the messy, variable reality of industrial-scale deployment. That is precisely where Rio Tinto's involvement becomes transformative.

Rio Tinto brings deep in-house expertise across commercialisation, chemicals and minerals, the exact disciplines Supra needs to stress-test its platform and sharpen its route to market. Crucially, it also offers something that cannot be replicated in a university lab: scale. The facilities, operational infrastructure and real-world testing grounds that Rio Tinto can make available represent a genuine step change in what Supra can validate and at what speed.

"Our Founders Factory business advisor Jack Kennedy has helped us explore different commercial models," Katie says. "He has gotten to know thousands of mining technology startups and brings an invaluable depth of knowledge that supports our strategy in this area."

That commercial rigour, combined with Rio Tinto's network of partners and suppliers across the global mining industry, gives Supra a route into relationships with the likes of feedstock suppliers, commercial offtake partners, and the broader ecosystem of organisations whose involvement could accelerate Supra's path from pilot to scale.

Perth Residency Week: Unlocking What Comes Next

Supra arrived in Perth having closed an oversubscribed $2 million pre-seed round at launch and with commercial pilots expected before the end of 2026. The Perth Residency Week offers the chance to unlock the relationships and access that turn a promising pilot into a commercially scalable operation.

"The next big milestone for Supra is breaking ground on our initial pilot projects," Katie says. "Our original go-to-market strategy centred around gallium and scandium recovery has proven to be a strong fit, and we're excited to be making progress with our commercial partners."

For a platform designed to recover multiple elements from multiple feedstock sources, Rio Tinto's reach across mining operations, processing facilities and commercial partners matters enormously. Perth is the place where the industry relationships that will define the company's next stage can be built

Supra is part of the fourth Mining Tech cohort delivered by Founders Factory in partnership with the Rio Tinto.