The backers and the bet
American Advanced Materials wants to revive U.S. output of titanium sponge, a semi-finished input for titanium, a metal that powers jet engines and missile systems. Jake Paul, the influencer turned pro boxer, is in through Anti Fund, which he co-founded with Geoffrey Woo.
AAM says Amity Ventures LLC led a $12.5 million seed round, joined by Human Capital and Anti Fund, to hire more people and design a commercial-scale facility.
Why titanium sponge matters now
Titanium is a critical mineral for aerospace and defense, showing up in aircraft frames and engines, plus satellites, ships and submarines. Its strength-to-weight edge and resistance to heat and corrosion make it hard to replace. Or as CEO Alex Liegl put it, "Titanium is critical for anything that flies."
The U.S. still has substantial melting and manufacturing capability, but it produced zero titanium sponge in 2025 and, per the U.S. Geological Survey, brought in an all-time high of 44,000 tons, with Japan as the primary source. Titanium Metals Corp.'s Henderson, Nevada, plant - the last major U.S. producer - was idled in 2020.
Team, timing and where it gets built
Liegl says the window is open thanks to geopolitically driven supply chain gaps that leave room for a new entrant. AAM has hired veterans from former sponge makers Timet and ATI Inc., along with engineers who have worked at Tesla Inc. "Venture capitalists are also seeing a government and an industry that are only now willing to partner with early-stage companies," he said.
The company is targeting initial capacity of about 20,000 tons a year, with a longer-term goal of satisfying total U.S. demand. It is weighing brownfield and greenfield sites, most likely in a Gulf Coast state, and aims to settle on specifics within six to nine months. "The goal would be to serve American demand first," Liegl said, with exports to allied nations possible later.
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Customers, economics and the rest of the capital stack
According to AAM, LOIs exceed $1 billion for upcoming shipments of titanium sponge plus zirconium oxychloride - the latter is a precursor to zirconium and hafnium products used in rockets, gas turbines, nuclear fuel, and artificial intelligence chips. The U.S. currently relies on Chinese imports of zirconium oxychloride, the intermediate product, according to Liegl.
Potential buyers range from U.S.-based melters to alloy producers that serve aerospace, defense, energy, and AI infrastructure. Pricing is central to the plan: AAM is not counting on a buy-American premium, with Liegl saying "the titanium needs to be globally competitive on price." To build and operate the facility, the company plans a separate project-financing round.
Liegl and Diego Represas started AAM last year; Represas is a U.S. Army Reserve officer who launched Able AI, an AI data platform later acquired by Moody's Corp. They first crossed paths as Stanford University freshmen.
The bottom line for investors
If AAM executes, a domestic sponge supply could reduce import risk for aerospace and defense supply chains and potentially reshape pricing power across U.S. melting and alloying. The signed demand signals - $1 billion plus in letters of intent - point to visible offtake, while the separate project financing raises the usual construction and execution hurdles to watch.
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