Triangle Scores HUGE DeepTech Win: $65m investment by Altimeter into Vulcan Elements
Durham based Vulcan Elements' proprietary rare earth magnet technology draws huge investment from top Silicon Valley bringing DeepTech to the Triangle
Today, which seemed like a quiet news day at the end of the Summer a bombshell funding round was announced that took everyone by surprise and scored a WSJ exclusive nonetheless!
In this issue of Tweener Times, we dig into who Vulcan Elements is and why this is a huge win for the Triangle.
But before we get into it, this wouldn’t be possible without our paid subscribers and sponsors. Be sure to join our subscriber ranks and visit our sponsors:
Robinson Bradshaw - A full-service business law firm with a passion for supporting the Triangle entrepreneurial ecosystem. Learn more about Robinson Bradshaw’s startups and venture capital practice here.
EisnerAmper (formerly HPG) - One of the world’s largest business consulting firms, with a dedicated technology practice offering outsourcing, accounting, tax, and advisory services. Our experienced professionals serve more than 2,000 technology companies, from early-stage startups to public enterprises. Discover how EisnerAmper’s stage-specific solutions and industry expertise can help you achieve your milestones whether startup, international expansion, M&A, or IPO: eisneramper.com/tech.
Bank of America – BofA’s Transformative Technology Group helps game-changing tech businesses and founders realize their boldest ambitions across a wide range of technology sectors. With hands-on support, world-class resources, and an extensive network – BofA provides the stability and scalability that tech companies need to rapidly grow today and into the future.
ExtensisHR - As a Professional Employer Organization (PEO), ExtensisHR empowers tech founders and growing businesses to scale smarter. We take HR administration off your plate—managing payroll, recruiting, employee benefits and retirement plans, compliance, risk, and more—so you can focus on innovation. For over 25 years we’ve leveraged a people-first approach, customer-centric mindset, and deep industry expertise to ensure employers have the tools needed to stay competitive in today’s market.
Whitley Recruiting Partners - Whitley Recruiting Partners specializes in recruiting top tech talent for growth-stage startups in the Triangle. We target industry-specific, entrepreneurial employees who drive immediate results through a fast, accurate, and scalable recruiting process. Special offer for Tweener Times subscribers: Free survey of available local talent for one of your openings.
Lithios Apps - Lithios Apps is a Triangle-based software design and development studio that builds custom mobile and web applications focused on quality and user experience. We help founders and teams bring products to life that drive growth, engage customers, and stand out in competitive markets. We've worked side by side with clients whose products have gone on to earn millions in follow-on funding.
Monster Funding Round Details
The round was led by Altimeter, Brad Gerstner’s firm at a $250m valuation. Brad Gerstner is a Silicon Valley legend. He founded Altimeter in 2008 and it now has about $7B assets under management. It started as a typical private-company VC, but then grew into a cross-over fund that does private and public. He’s frequently on the All-in pod and started a great pod with Bill Gurley (Benchmark) called BG2 (audio here/video here). The fund, One Investment Management, led by Rajeev Misra (previously SoftBank), also participated in the round.
Previously Vulcan raised ~$10m to develop and build it’s prototype facility on the Durham side of RTP off TW Alexander Rd.
Vulcan Elements Founders
Vulcan was founded by John Maslin and Dr. Piotr Kulik founded Vulcan in March of 2023.
From my previous meeting with John and other press interviews, Vulcan Elements chose the Triangle for several reasons:
Access to world-class research and talent: The tier-one universities and other manufacturing companies in the area.
Manufacturing and engineering infrastructure: North Carolina has made significant investments in frontier manufacturing and engineering initiatives.
National security and supply chain goals: By locating in the US, Vulcan Elements is able to directly support U.S. strategic objectives of reducing dependence on China for rare earth magnets and securing critical technology supply chains.
Economic and political support: State and local government leaders, as well as national policymakers, strongly support Vulcan’s mission of onshoring and revitalizing American manufacturing, which also brings jobs and investment back to the U.S.
Synergy with advanced technology sectors: The Triangle is a hub for semiconductors, batteries, and now magnets—the three critical components for nearly every advanced technology and electronics platform in the country.
This Triangle allows Vulcan Elements to operate at the intersection of research advancement, industrial production, and national strategic interests.
What are Rare Earth Magnets
Essentially they are in everything from GPS to weapons systems to navigation to your iPhone.EVs, medical devices, etc. As part of the on-going trade tensions between China and the US, China threatened to cut off the US’s supply to rare earth minerals, the pre-cursor to Rare Earth Magnets. While at HBS, John learned that 90% of Rare Earth Magnets are supplied by China and worried that was a huge strategic problem for the US and decided to do something about it.
It turns out his intuition and timing were better than he could have predicted. 2yrs later here we are with the US looking for a way to diversify and, BOOM, Vulcan Elements is there.
Vulcan has a proprietary process that allows them to make Rare Earth Magnets using less energy and less harmful byproduct chemicals. It’s both more efficient and cleaner.
Conclusion
This deal puts the Triangle squarely on the map for the new wave of modern DeepTech companies that are looking for a great place to innovate outside the typical software/AI realm. Congrats to the John, Pietr and the entire Vulcan Elements Team and welcome to the Triangle Altimeter and Brad Gerstner!