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LOOPARTS, a Tohoku University startup, announced on January 30 that it has closed its seed round of funding, with investors including Kyoto University Innovation Capital and an undisclosed individual. The company’s technology, UPLOOP, developed by Professor Hongmin Zhu, enables high-purity recycling of critical metals like aluminum with reduced environmental impact.

Current aluminum production consumes about 162 MJ/kg, but UPLOOP aims to lower this to between 58 and 80 MJ/kg. LOOPARTS has transitioned from lab-scale demonstrations initiated in July 2025 to the bench-scale α design phase, targeting completion by year-end before moving to bench-scale β, which is ten times larger, with industrialization planned for the second half of 2028.