€1.5m investment in metals monitoring technology company by raw materials fund

A Finnish developer of continuous metals monitoring technology, Sensmet, has received a major investment from EIT RawMaterials to help secure the supply of critical, strategically important raw materials.

EIT RawMaterials is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.

The funding will be used to leverage the scale-up and deployment of Sensmet’s µDOES® online metals analysers to strengthen Europe’s raw materials resilience and competitiveness. “Our highly innovative technology provides process managers with continuous measurements for key metals within liquid process streams,” explains Sensmet CEO, Dr Toni Laurila. “This enables them, for example, to extract critically important metals much more efficiently than would have been previously possible when relying on laboratory analysis.”

Sensmet’s technology is deployed in a wide variety of applications including wastewater treatment, battery recycling, lithium production and fertilizer manufacture. The company was chosen for this investment because continuous process measurements enable and enhance the recovery of metals that are critically important for the digital economy.

A key objective for EIT RawMaterials is to secure a sustainable, independent supply of materials for Europe. As a Knowledge and Innovation Community, co-funded by the European Commission, EIT RawMaterials is one of Europe’s most active innovation ecosystems in the raw materials sector. The organisation supports technologies and industrial solutions that strengthen Europe’s security of supply for critical raw materials such as lithium, cobalt, nickel, and rare earth elements (REEs), which are essential for batteries, renewable energy systems, and advanced manufacturing.

Summarising, Toni Laurila says: 

“Our business aligns perfectly with the goals of EIT RawMaterials, so we are honoured to receive this investment, and excited to see how we can use it to scale the µDOES platform and accelerate growth.”