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Funding will accelerate pilot-scale production of lithium-6 and lithium-7 isotopes, strengthening a critical domestic supply chain for next-generation energy technologies. SANTA FE, N.M., Aug. 31, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Molten Salt Solutions, Inc. (MSS), a New Mexico-based company with a novel large-scale production method for enriching lithium, announced the closing of an oversubscribed $7 million round of seed funding. The round was led by Dolby Family Ventures with participation from Vanedge Capital Partners, Alumni Ventures, Gaingels, True Ventures, and Future Ventures. Fusion systems require large, reliable supplies of enriched lithium-6. Lithium-7 is used in advanced fission molten salt reactors. Currently, the United States lacks commercial-scale production of either isotope, making rebuilding the secure, domestic source of both isotopes a recognized national priority for energy security. Funding accelerates production of lithium, strengthening the supply chain for next-generation energy technologies. "Fusion and small modular fission reactors are racing toward commercialization and are necessary to meet growing global power demands. Both depend on a secure domestic supply of enriched lithium. MSS meets this need," said John Elling, CEO of Molten Salt Solutions. "This investment enables us to scale our technology and production capability to meet the demands of advanced reactors today and in the future." The financing will accelerate MSS's transition from laboratory-validated technology to pilot-scale production fulfilling active customer agreements, expand the technical and operations teams, and deepen partnerships across the fusion and advanced nuclear supply chain. The company is also advancing a broader portfolio of enriched isotopes to serve emerging markets. This raise follows MSS's $3 million pre-seed and more than $5 million in grant funding, including support through New Mexico's Advanced Energy Award. About Molten Salt Solution: Molten Salt Solutions, Inc. (MSS) is a New Mexico based company producing enriched stable isotopes for fusion and the advanced nuclear market. Founded by serial entrepreneurs and isotope enrichment leaders from Los Alamos National Laboratory, MSS has developed a proprietary platform that is 100X more efficient than legacy enrichment approaches. MSS is building a secure domestic supply of high-purity lithium-6 and lithium-7 for the fusion and advanced-nuclear sectors, alongside a growing portfolio of enriched isotopes for advanced technologies. Learn more at https://moltensaltsolutions.com; info@moltensaltsolutions.com. About Dolby Family Ventures: Dolby Family Ventures ("DFV") is an early-stage venture capital firm. Founded in 2014, DFV formalizes the Dolby family's ongoing, multi-generational commitment to Ray Dolby's legacy of discovering and supporting visionary entrepreneurs. DFV focuses on seed and pre-seed investments across a range of science- and technology-driven sectors, including climate, robotics and automation, aerospace, digital innovation, and compute, as well as on disease-modifying treatments in neurodegeneration and neuropsychiatry. Advanced energy solutions has been an active area of investment for the firm over the past decade, having made over 10 investments since 2016 supporting this thesis. DFV is not affiliated with Dolby Laboratories, Inc. For more information, visit www.dolbyventures.com. About Vandege Capital: Vanedge Capital is an early-stage venture capital fund based in Vancouver, Canada. Founded in 2010, the firm partners with founders solving hard technology problems across energy, advanced materials, computing, artificial intelligence, computational biology, and defense. Notable investments include SpaceX, Echodyne, Mojo Vision, Canalyst, and Raxium. For more information, visit vanedgecapital.com. About Alumni Ventures: Alumni Ventures is one of the most active venture firms in the world, making startup investing more accessible for individuals. Powered by an 850,000+ member network of alumni, founders, experts, investors, and subscribers, AV co-invests alongside leading firms like Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia, and NEA. The firm regularly invests in the nuclear and broader energy sectors, backing companies such as Pacific Fusion, X-Energy, Aalo Atomics, Radiant Nuclear, Thea Energy, Realta Fusion, and Valar Atomics. Since its founding in 2014, Alumni Ventures has raised over $1.6 billion from over 25,000 Investors and Syndicate Members, and invested in 1,800+ companies across every major sector and stage. The firm has been named one of PitchBook's most active U.S. venture firms every year since 2018, and was ranked #20 in Time Magazine's list of America's Top Venture Capital Firms of 2025. Learn more at av.vc. About Gaingels: Gaingels is amongst the largest investors in the world aiming to show the world that equity of access and representation in venture capital delivers positive returns. Learn more at https://gaingels.com/. About True Ventures: True Ventures is a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that is first to believe in brilliant founders and invests in them at the earliest stages, when partnership matters most. Founded in 2005, the firm manages $4 billion in committed capital across over 450 teams spanning AI, software, hardware, cybersecurity, consumer, digital biology, and more. Notable investments include Enveda, Iceye, Handshake, Basecamp Research, Peloton, Duo Security, Ring, HashiCorp, and more. For more information visit www.trueventures.com. About Future Ventures: Future Ventures is an early-stage venture capital firm investing in frontier technologies that have the potential to transform industries and address some of the world's most consequential challenges. Founded in 2018, the firm manages over $1.4B in committed capital and partners with visionary founders at the earliest stages, focusing on breakthrough science and engineering across energy, advanced computing, AI, biotechnology, aerospace, robotics, novel chemistry, and beyond. Future Ventures has a long-standing focus on advanced energy, with investments spanning fusion, next-generation nuclear, energy storage, critical materials, and other technologies aimed at enabling abundant, reliable, and sustainable energy. Notable investments include Commonwealth Fusion Systems, Realta Fusion, Subcritical Systems, and Red Metals. For more information, visit future.ventures.

Listen in to the Everybody in the Pool Podcast with CEO John Elling. "We need to triple global energy production by 2050. Renewables are scaling fast, but the real wild card that could change everything might just be fusion. The physics and engineering are closer than ever, but there’s a critical materials problem standing between us and unlimited clean energy. This week on Everybody in the Pool, Molly speaks with Dr. John Elling, a Los Alamos chemist turned serial entrepreneur who’s working on a solution that he believes will change the world.

We’re excited to share that Molten Salt Solutions has signed strategic agreements with  Type One Energy  and  Gauss Fusion  to supply enriched lithium for next-generation fusion systems. Fusion energy is gaining real momentum, but one challenge is clear: there is no commercial-scale supply of lithium-6 today. Solving that is critical to moving from research to reality. Our approach to lithium isotope enrichment is designed for scale and helps build the supply chain this industry will depend on. This is an important first step, and we’re proud to be working alongside leading partners to help enable the future of clean energy. Thank you to  Katie Brigham  at  Heatmap News  for the thoughtful coverage on the news! See comments for the full story. https://heatmap.news/climate-tech/molten-salt-solutions-deal

On November 13th, Dr. Elling will be presenting work to date toward a fusion-ready lithium material standard. The trace analysis work funded by the Clean Air Task Force (Boston, MA) reveals that the trace element concentrations and variabilities will be problematic for the use of lithium metal in fusion reactors. Upcoming US DoE INFUSE funded work will focus on finding the source of the variability and identifying opportunities to create purity specifications and standards. If you are in Knoxville Tennessee, we hope to see you in the audience!

Molten Salt Solutions (MSS)  is proud to announce it has been selected for funding under the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Innovation Network for Fusion Energy (INFUSE)  program. The awarded project, titled “Development of Fusion-Grade Lithium Material Specifications,”  aims to establish industry-relevant material standards for lithium used in fusion energy systems. Through this INFUSE award, MSS will collaborate with Los Alamos National Laboratory and the University of New Mexico to define, characterize, and validate fusion-grade lithium material specifications , paving the way for a reliable domestic supply chain tailored to fusion applications. The work will help align material standards across the fusion sector and support regulatory, procurement, and engineering efforts for fusion reactor developers.

I'm delighted to be on a panel discussing the opportunities in the fusion energy supply chain! Please join me Monday September 15th from 2:45pm https://nmwomenlead.org/about-the-conference

Excited to announce I'll be joining the powerhouse lineup of speakers at FusionXInvest:Global in Silicon Valley this February! I'll be talking about our plans to build industrial scale lithium isotope enrichment. Are you an investor interested in #fusion energy? This is the event for you! Join me and connect with the brightest minds in the industry #FusionX #FusionXInvest: https://events.fusionxinvest.com/global25/

Santa Fe, New Mexico – December 11, 2024 – Molten Salt Solutions is pleased to announce the successful close of its Seed funding, securing $3 million from Silicon Valley firms Future Ventures and True Ventures. This investment will support the development of the company’s first commercial-scale lithium isotope enrichment process. Currently, there is no commercial source of enriched lithium isotopes, and conventional enrichment methods are not suitable for industrial-scale production. Molten Salt Solutions addresses this demand with its enrichment process, paving the way for a sustainable isotope supply. As the world transitions to GHG-free energy sources, there is growing excitement around molten salt reactors (MSRs) and nuclear fusion as revolutionary solutions for clean energy. However, both technologies face unique materials requirements, particularly for lithium isotopes. Molten Salt Solutions’ innovative approach to lithium isotope enrichment and production positions it at the forefront of this emerging field, addressing critical supply needs for these advanced reactors. The Importance of Lithium Isotopes in Next-Generation Reactors Lithium salts are important to many MSR designs. Enriched lithium-7 in MSR salt mixtures prevents the formation of radioactive tritium, making it a vital component for safer and more sustainable nuclear energy. Lithium isotopes are also essential for fusion power, which is poised to revolutionize the global energy supply with abundant, nearly limitless energy. In fusion reactors, tritium fuel is produced from lithium-6. Enriching lithium-6 facilitates efficient tritium breeding, allowing continuous fusion reactions. Paving the Way for a New Era in Clean Energy Molten Salt Solutions developed and demonstrated the company’s proprietary technology with SBIR funding from the National Science Foundation and in collaboration with Los Alamos National Laboratory. The company will use equity funding to refine its technologies and establish the first pilot production. These advancements will position Molten Salt Solutions as a primary supplier to the advanced nuclear and fusion sectors, facilitating commercial deployment of MSRs and fusion systems. "Our mission is to facilitate a clean energy future by addressing the critical materials needs of next-generation reactors," said Dr. John Elling, CEO of Molten Salt Solutions. "We are grateful to our investors for their support and commitment to making advanced nuclear energy a reality.” “As believers that energy should be clean, abundant, and accessible to all, we’re excited to be investors in Molten Salt Solutions, which will provide essential materials to fuel our future energy systems. The company addresses a critical need for both fusion and fission systems by cost-effectively providing refined lithium, thereby solving a key issue in the industry,” said Maryanna Saenko, co-founder of Future Ventures. ### New Mexico Energy Technology Incubator Molten Salt Solutions is part of the New Mexico Fusion Igniter consortium ( fusion-igniter.org ). Fusion Igniter’s mission is to accelerate fusion technology development by supporting early-stage companies crucial to the fusion supply chain. Based in New Mexico, the consortium harnesses the region’s proximity to national laboratories and research institutions, fostering innovation and workforce development in advanced manufacturing, AI, and energy technologies.