b'I N V E S T M E N TPresidio Ventures Invests in SustainableLithium Extraction Technology This October, Presidio Ventures, SCOAs Corporate Venture arm, joined a Series B funding round for LilacSolutions, Inc. (Lilac), a lithium extraction company headquartered in Oakland CA. Lilac will use thisfunding to expand its global team, build a factory in the United States to produce the companys unique ion-exchange beads, and deploy Lilacs lithium extraction technology for projects throughout the United States, South America and Europe.Lilacs technology is significantly faster to deploy,and significantly less environmental footprint.cost-effective and more sustainable than conventionalOnce fully absorbed with lithium, the ion exchange lithium production methods. Their Direct Lithiumbeads efficiently flush out the mineral using hydrochlo-Extraction (DLE) technology unlocks new untappedric acid. According to a CNBC article, the beads can brine resources that contain low lithium and highbe treated hundreds of times before being replaced and impurities, an area deemed unusable until recently. are recyclable. When they can no longer extract the Were excited to contribute to the sustainable expan- mineral, Lilac recovers and recycles them.sion of the worlds Lithium supply through our invest- Today, lithium powers a wide range of industries and ment into Lilac solutions, said Mr. Doug Kuribayashi,is used in batteries for mobile phones, laptops, tablets, CEO of Presidio Ventures. We believe that Sumitomoand most notably, electric vehicles. According to IEAs Corporation of Americas expertise and significantGlobal EV Outlook, electric car registrations increased experience in the management and operations of thein all major markets in 2020 despite the COVID-19 mining business, together with its global network inpandemic, and 18 of the 20 largest OEMs have com-trading raw materials for battery production, will addmitted to improving their offer and sale of EVs. value to Lilac Solutions in the future. As these figures drive the automotive industry toward With a large portion of the worlds lithium found inelectrification, the lithium supply chain will be a tre-natural saltwater brines, conventional recovery reliesmendous player in satisfying this consumer demand.on environmentally damaging and weather-vulnerable evaporation ponds. While lithium producers seek moreElectric vehicles are a low-carbon success story and efficient extraction methods, Lilacs ion-exchange tech- are poised for decades of growth, said Dave Snydack-nology extracts lithium without an evaporation ponder, CEO and Founder of Lilac Solutions, but the lithi-um raw materials needed for batteries have become Lilacs technology issignificantly faster to deploy,cost-effective and more sustainablethan conventional lithium productionmethods. Their Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technology unlocks new untappedbrine resources that contain lowlithium and high impurities,an area deemed unusableuntil recently.Photos by Norberto Seebach10 visions Fall 2021'