American Advanced Materials has raised $12.5 million in seed funding to develop a domestic manufacturing platform for critical industrial materials, beginning with titanium sponge.
The round was led by Amity Ventures, with participation from Human Capital, Anti Fund and Powerset.
Founded in 2025 by Alex Liegl and Diego Represas, the company plans to build manufacturing facilities serving industries including aerospace, defense, energy and advanced computing.
The financing will support engineering, design and recruitment.
It will not, on its own, fund construction of the company's planned commercial factory.
American Advanced Materials intends to raise separate project financing for that stage.
Why Titanium Sponge Matters
Titanium is widely used in industries requiring materials that combine strength, relatively low weight and resistance to heat and corrosion.
Aircraft structures, jet engines and defense equipment are important applications.
However, producing titanium products involves several industrial stages.
Titanium-bearing minerals must be processed into suitable chemical feedstocks, which are then converted into sponge before further melting and alloy production.
Titanium sponge is therefore a critical intermediate material.
The United States has substantial capacity for melting and manufacturing titanium products but has not produced titanium sponge domestically since 2020, according to the company's announcement.
The US Geological Survey reported that titanium sponge imports reached approximately 44,000 metric tons in 2025.
That dependence creates supply-chain exposure for industries considered strategically important.
American Advanced Materials wants to restore the missing domestic production stage.
How the Company Plans to Manufacture Titanium
The startup is not proposing an entirely new chemical method for producing titanium sponge.
Its first facility will use the established Kroll process.
This industrial process converts titanium compounds into metallic titanium through a series of chemical and thermal operations.
The resulting sponge can be processed into titanium ingots and alloys.
American Advanced Materials believes the opportunity lies in modernizing the design and operation of facilities using established production chemistry.
Its proposed manufacturing system combines process engineering, automation, robotics and software.
The company wants to develop a repeatable architecture that can be applied to additional facilities.
Instead of treating each industrial plant as an entirely separate engineering project, the founders intend to standardize elements of equipment, monitoring and operations.
This could potentially reduce development time and improve production efficiency.
However, the company has not published operational cost benchmarks demonstrating that its planned process can compete with established overseas suppliers.
More Than $1 Billion in Letters of Intent
Alongside the funding, American Advanced Materials announced that it had signed offtake letters of intent representing more than $1 billion in potential purchases.
The prospective agreements concern titanium sponge and zirconium oxychloride.
The potential buyers include companies serving aerospace, defense, energy and advanced technology markets.
These letters indicate commercial interest in the proposed facilities.
However, they should not be described as $1 billion in contracted revenue.
Letters of intent may be nonbinding and can depend on pricing, product qualification, production schedules and the successful construction of a facility.
The company has not disclosed definitive purchase agreements covering the announced amount.
Expansion Into Zirconium Materials
American Advanced Materials also plans to develop zirconium oxychloride production.
Zirconium oxychloride is an industrial precursor used in the production of zirconium and hafnium materials.
These materials have applications in nuclear energy, aerospace, semiconductor manufacturing and other advanced industries.
The company says the United States currently depends on Chinese imports for this particular intermediate product.
Developing domestic capacity could therefore address a second industrial supply-chain vulnerability.
However, the zirconium project remains at an early stage.
The company has not disclosed a construction schedule, capacity target or project financing package for that expansion.
Who Founded American Advanced Materials?
Alex Liegl, the company's CEO, previously founded Tenet Energy, a financial technology platform serving electric vehicles and home electrification, and Layer1, a Bitcoin mining business.
Diego Represas, cofounder and chief technology officer, previously founded Able AI, a financial data company acquired by Moody's.
The founders met while studying at Stanford University.
Their broader team includes engineers with experience at established industrial manufacturers, including ATI, TIMET and Westinghouse.
This combination of software and industrial expertise is central to the company's strategy.
The Economics of Domestic Manufacturing
The main challenge is not proving that titanium sponge can be manufactured in the United States.
The relevant technology is already established.
The challenge is producing material at a globally competitive cost.
Domestic operations must account for electricity, labor, chemical feedstocks, environmental compliance, equipment and financing expenses.
American Advanced Materials must also meet the quality and qualification requirements of demanding aerospace and defense customers.
Industrial plants can require substantial capital before generating revenue.
According to Bloomberg, the company is evaluating potential sites in US Gulf Coast states and targeting initial annual capacity of approximately 20,000 tons.
Those plans remain subject to financing and development decisions.
What Comes Next?
The seed round will support the design of the proposed facility.
The next milestones include selecting a site, securing construction financing, obtaining relevant permits and converting customer interest into binding agreements.
American Advanced Materials is pursuing a strategically important industrial opportunity, but its success will depend on building and operating a competitive factory rather than simply attracting venture capital or announcing potential orders.