A little-known rare earths start-up with about 30 employees has won a blockbuster funding deal from the Pentagon, three months after Donald Trump Jr’s venture capital firm invested in the company.
Vulcan Elements will receive a $620mn loan from the US defence department as part of a $1.4bn deal to increase the supply of magnets for industries alongside partner ReElement Technologies. The pact also includes more than $550mn in private financing and other federal incentives.
The loan, agreed last month, is the largest made by the Pentagon’s Office of Strategic Capital but only the latest federal government contract handed to companies backed by Trump Jr’s $1bn-plus investment fund.