Some companies chase gold. Phoenix Tailings chases what everyone else left behind and turns it into something the world cannot run without. Out of Exeter, New Hampshire, with operational muscle in Burlington and Woburn, Massachusetts, Phoenix Tailings just secured $40.2M in a Series B-3 amplification round. $30.2M in equity. $10M in venture debt from Nomura. That brings total Series B funding to $116.6M. Not a vanity number. A signal. The round was offered exclusively to existing investors and select strategic partners, which tells you this was not a roadshow circus. This was insiders leaning in.
Olive Tree Capital led the equity again. Traxys, Eni Next, and Geodesic Alliance Fund stepped in as strategic partners. Aether VC participated, with continued backing from Olive Tree Capital, Envisioning Partners, and MPower Partners. When capital that understands commodities, energy, and infrastructure keeps writing checks, you pay attention.
Nick Myers, CEO and Co-Founder, did not start with a gleaming refinery. He started in a backyard, running prototypes that most people would have dismissed as science fair material. Thomas Villalón, PhD, CTO and Co-Founder, turned that scrappy chemistry into industrial capability. Anthony Balladon, Chief Commercial Officer and Co-Founder, made sure the science had a market. Together, they built a rare earth metal refinery in Massachusetts that operates at commercial scale.
Most of the world talks about rare earth oxides. Phoenix Tailings focuses on oxide to metal conversion, the midstream bottleneck that decides who actually controls supply chains. They are producing metals such as neodymium-praseodymium, dysprosium, and terbium from tailings. Waste becomes feedstock. Residue becomes revenue. Phoenix is not just a name. It is the business model.
The process is described as zero waste with no toxic byproducts. In a sector that has historically carried environmental baggage, that matters. Especially when your end markets include EVs, wind turbines, defense systems, and advanced manufacturing where reliability is not optional.
The takeaway for founders watching this unfold is simple. Solve a structural problem, prove it at commercial scale, and capital will compound behind you. Phoenix Tailings did not pitch a trend. They attacked a chokepoint. Investors responded with $40.2M to accelerate capacity and broaden output beyond NdPr, Dy, and Tb.
Congratulations to Nick Myers, Thomas Villalón, and Anthony Balladon, along with the full leadership team including Leo Salgado, Lynda Freshman, Patrick Portmann, Alex Nyarko, Rick Salvucci, and Rahul Sen. Turning tailings into treasure is not poetry. It is process. And process, when disciplined and funded, starts to look a lot like leverage.
