Tibetan Inspiration, $72M Raised: Summit Nanotech Speeds Up Lithium Production

Learn how Amanda Hall and Summit Nanotech use nanotechnology to cut lithium production from 18 months to 1 day while raising $72M to accelerate the EV revolution.⭐ My guest today is Amanda Hall, Founder and CEO of Summit Nanotech, which supports the electric vehicle revolution by capturing lithium ion in brine using nanotechnology. In their unique process, they shorten the average industry rate of lithium production from 18 months to 1 day. They also dramatically reduce the amount of water, pressure, heat, and chemicals needed to responsibly mine this valuable input for battery storage.To date, they’ve raised $7M in grants and $65M from investors, such as Capricorn, Evok Innovations, Volta, and Grantham.---🎙️ In this episode, we talked about:How her training as a geophysicist in the oil and gas industry trained her for this jobWhy she felt compelled to travel to Tibet and why that led her to come back, quit her job, sell her home, sell her oil and gas stocks, and rethink her contributions to the worldWhat the human kidney and biomimicry taught her about early designs for Summit’s technologyHer advice on trusting her gut to make tough decisions earlier rather than laterThe importance of trusting and verifying the data you rely on for growing your companyWhy they are vertically integrating to own land and own lithium outputsWhat they look for when hiring new team members, such as humility, relentlessness, and a desire to do the impossibleHer favorite quotesBook recommendations for CEOs to better manage their team’s growthAnd lots more---👍 Quick favor: Please leave a review or 5-star rating on your podcast player. This helps more listeners discover the climate CEOs and investors I interview here. 🙏---🌎 Entrepreneurs for Impact is on a mission to help climate founders, CEOs, and investors scale faster via the #1 peer group community in North America. Our invite-only cohorts grow through monthly meetings, annual retreats, and 1:1 coaching calls. Today’s highly vetted members represent over $8B in market cap or assets under management. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Programs are led by Dr. Chris Wedding — 4x founder, $1B of investment experience, and Duke University and UNC-Chapel Hill professor, with 70,000+ professional students taught, 25 years of meditation, an obsession with constant improvement, and far too many mistakes to keep to himself.And here's our weekly newsletter — A 2-minute summary of climate tech startups, impact investing, and leading with purpose (and a sense of humor). ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://entrepreneursforimpact.substack.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠