Register for IndieBio SF’s VC-Founder Meetings + Demo Day  – Week of January 26, 2026

Alkali Labs

Unlocking $12B/yr of low-concentration lithium brines in the US

Team

Jacob Roberts

President & Co-Founder

Luis Valencia

CEO & Co-Founder

Company details

Oil wells are not the first thing you think of when you think of lithium sources, but pumping oil out of the ground actually requires a lot of water, either to fracture the rock or to push out the oil of old wells. That water is often locally sourced from deep underground, and has to be properly disposed of and reinjected back down. Coincidentally, this water also contains a lot of lithium, and is a ripe opportunity for on-shore lithium mining, if there were a safe and non-toxic approach to extracting the lithium…

Alkali labs was founded by a duo of synthetic biologists, Jacob Roberts and Luis Valencia, to engineer a scalable, decentralized method to extract lithium from oil field brine using safe, biological processes. They can sequester the lithium (or other minerals of interest) in ways that are not economically feasible–nor environmentally allowable–with conventional methods. Alkali’s solution is to tackle these challenges from the ground up, starting with the most scalable microbes, and engineering scalable bioprocesses on top. 

Get In Touch with Alkali Labs

Please tell us a little bit about yourself and why you'd like to get connected. Alkali Labs + SOSV will follow up with you via email.

Hidden
Hidden
Hidden
Hidden

No Offer, Solicitation, Advice, or Recommendation

Except to the extent expressly set forth in materials as may be provided through a password protected area on the SOSV website (the "Materials"), or as otherwise expressly specified by SOSV in writing, nothing on the SOSV website or on any platform or other communications medium owned, operated or otherwise by or on behalf of SOSV, is intended to constitute (i) an offer, or solicitation of an offer, to purchase or sell any security, other asset or service, (ii) investment advice or an offer to provide such advice, or (iii) a basis for making any investment decision. Except as expressly stated by SOSV in writing, neither the SOSV website or any platform or other communications medium owned, operated or otherwise by or on behalf of SOSV, nor any of the Materials make any effort to present a comprehensive or balanced description of SOSV or its investment activities. Please note the SOSV Communication Policy available here.