Metal Morph has raised £700k in pre-seed funding to advance plans to turn water and wastewater plants into circular supply chains.
Metal Morph is an infrastructure-as-a-service solution that recovers valuable industrial resources from municipal and industrial wastewater. Its first technology solution recovers aluminium and iron-based treatment chemicals, which otherwise would have been discharged to sewer, sent to landfill or landspread.
The startup says recovering these chemicals enables water utilities and industrial operators to reduce costs, lower carbon emissions and strengthen supply chain resilience. The recovered chemicals can then be reused in the same treatment process, creating a valuable circular system which turns waste into a reliable industrial resource.
The funding comes at a time when supply chain disruption, stricter regulations and rising costs make access to critical resources more challenging than ever, the startup says.
Metal Morph was founded by Moletsane Mophethe, who experienced water scarcity firsthand during his childhood in Lesotho.
“Growing up in a place where access to clean water was uncertain instilled within me an appreciation of how fragile access to essential resources can be,” says Mophethe.
“With Metal Morph, I want to help change that reality. Water infrastructure is one of the most overlooked industrial supply chains in the world. By harnessing them correctly, we are fundamentally reshaping the supply of essential chemicals to reduce the cost of water production.”
Metal Morph has partnerships with six UK water utilities, including Anglian Water and Thames Water. The firm was also recently awarded a £100k grant by Ofwat, the UK’s water services regulator, with a further £450k available over the coming months as milestones are met.
