Listen to this textThe fundamentals:
- Still Bright to open global headquarters at NEST
- Startup will occupy 15K sq. toes for R&D, pilot manufacturing
- Patented RACER course of can get better as much as 99% of copper from sulfide ore
- Move helps development following a $18.7M seed funding spherical
Clean-tech startup Still Bright is establishing its global headquarters on the Northeast Science and Technology (NEST) Center in Kenilworth. The current announcement marks the following section of its development as the corporate prepares to scale its copper extraction know-how towards pilot manufacturing.
Still Bright will occupy 15,000 sq. toes of laboratory house at 15 NEST. There, it would home research and development, technical testing, course of development, company operations and pilot-scale manufacturing associated to its patented copper extraction course of. According to the corporate, the transfer follows an $18.7 million seed funding round accomplished in 2025 and comes because it advances plans for an indication unit able to producing roughly 500 metric tons of copper yearly.
Founded in 2022, Still Bright’s patented RACER course of can get better as much as 99% of copper from sulfide ore at ambient temperature and stress, in keeping with the corporate. The innovation provides a lower-cost different to traditional smelting whereas eliminating dangerous waste.
“We’re entering a decisive period for Still Bright and for the copper industry,” mentioned Randy Allen, the corporate’s co-founder and CEO. “We’ve spent the past few years proving that modern electrochemistry can produce copper with better economics than the status quo. The geological copper is there and the demand is undeniable. What’s been missing is a way to produce copper that communities can actually welcome.”
Allen mentioned the RACER course of avoids poisonous pollution whereas changing typical waste streams into worthwhile co-products.
“Our move to NEST lets us advance our pilot and prepare for global on-site demonstrations, right here in New Jersey,” he mentioned.
Staying within the NEST
NEST officers mentioned the relocation displays the campus’s mission of serving to rising know-how firms grow without leaving the state.
“Still Bright’s move to NEST is exactly the type of growth story this campus was built to support,” mentioned Matt Flath, senior vice chairman of asset administration at Onyx Equities, a joint owner of the campus. “They are graduating from New Jersey’s startup ecosystem into a headquarters and pilot-scale manufacturing environment that allows them to keep advancing their technology here in the state. That is a powerful example of how NEST can help retain and scale innovative companies in New Jersey.”
Still Bright expects to start occupying the brand new facility inside 60 days.
The announcement marks one other milestone for an organization first profiled by NJBIZ during a 2023 tour of HAX’s Newark accelerator. At the time, this system was nonetheless taking form and working out of momentary house earlier than opening its everlasting headquarters in 2024.