Rare Earth Gets Real In Blacksburg

Mach Industries raised $300M at a $1.8B valuation to expand government-contract execution, Mach Propulsion, product development, and its Forge flexible manufacturing network.

AeroVironment plans a $15M Dayton-area expansion across Beavercreek and Xenia sites, adding about 44,000 square feet, 200 expected jobs, and production capacity near AFRL.

KULR secured a prototype battery development and fabrication agreement with a U.S.-based military drone manufacturer for UAV and controller battery packs.

Raytheon won a $515M Navy SPY-6 contract as the company ties radar support to an $800M manufacturing modernization and expected output doubling by 2028.

MDA Space was selected by BAE Systems to design and build antennas and control electronics for the U.S. Space Systems Command MEO Epoch 2 missile-warning constellation.

Fleetzero, Thoma-Sea, and Glosten formed an autonomous-vessel collaboration pairing marine power, autonomy, shipbuilding scale, and vessel design for commercial, government, and defense customers.

Urenco USA plans a nearly 50% expansion of the National Enrichment Facility in Eunice, New Mexico with a new plant adding 2.1M SWU of capacity.

T5 Smackover Partners signed a binding Glencore offtake for 100% of Phase 1 East Texas lithium carbonate production, estimated at 5,000 metric tons per year over five years.

Alsym Energy and Re:Build Manufacturing signed an MOU to develop commercial-scale sodium-ion battery cell manufacturing at Re:Build's New Kensington, Pennsylvania facility.

NX Atomics and Sciaky partnered on nuclear-component 3D printing, applying Chicago-based Sciaky's EBAM process to Indiana-based NX Atomics' SMR platform.

Statkraft and Elkem signed a seven-year power agreement covering 1,534 GWh for Elkem's Bjoelvefossen foundry-alloy plant from 2031 through 2037.

Generac signed a global supply agreement with a leading hyperscale data-center operator for backup generators as it expands capacity in Beaver Dam, Oshkosh, and Sussex, Wisconsin.

SOLV Energy highlighted more than 4 GWdc of large U.S. solar and battery projects across Nevada, Texas, Arizona, and North Carolina with substation, transmission, BESS, and SCADA scope.

Molex introduced multi-channel liquid-cooled busbars for high-current AI racks where power distribution, thermal control, and compact interconnects are converging.

Daqo New Energy signed an investment agreement for a Kunshan manufacturing base for AI data-center energy storage systems, solid-state transformers, circuit breakers, and batteries.

Air Products opened a $70M expansion of its membrane manufacturing and logistics center in Maryland Heights, Missouri, adding more than 70 hires and serving biogas, aerospace, hydrogen, and marine demand.

Westmag emerged with $11M in seed funding and is ramping drone motor and robot actuator production at Factory 01 in South San Francisco.

Kia and Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America began production of the 2027 Kia Sportage Hybrid in Georgia, adding the site's first Kia model and first hybrid.

DeepHow deployed live SOP verification with NVIDIA-powered physical AI inside a Foxconn manufacturing center to catch procedural drift as work happens.

NX Atomics and Sciaky partnered on nuclear-component 3D printing, applying Chicago-based Sciaky's EBAM process to Indiana-based NX Atomics' SMR platform.

Astera Labs expanded its Taiwan operations and Cloud-Scale Interop Lab to speed AI system validation with platform providers and Taiwan system manufacturers.

Quobly raised a €130M Series A led by STMicroelectronics, SEALSQ, Isalt, and BPI France to industrialize silicon-based quantum processors.

Hakusan plans to invest about ¥5B in a new Ishikawa plant for TMT Ferrules used in ultra-compact multi-fiber optical connectors for AI data centers.

Nanoramic announced first commercial NXSP shipments from mass-production facilities to Tier 1 battery manufacturers, automotive OEMs, consumer electronics manufacturers, and power tool manufacturers.

Exostar expanded its Microsoft collaboration to bring Azure-based CMMC tools to defense suppliers through Microsoft Marketplace.

Saothair Capital completed the acquisition of EAM Corp. from Domtar, adding a Jesup, Georgia manufacturer of nonwoven airlaid and laminated absorbent materials.

Darigold and Actus Nutrition announced a strategic partnership for Actus to purchase and operate Darigold's Jerome, Idaho milk-protein plant while Darigold supplies whey from Sunnyside, Washington.

Hilco Global set a June 26 bid deadline for Hawthorne Race Course, a 108-acre Chicago-area asset with logistics, manufacturing, and industrial infill redevelopment potential.

Terra AI raised a $20M Series A led by Khosla Ventures with BHP Ventures participation to accelerate mineral and reservoir exploration.

USA Rare Earth finalized access to up to $1.6B in Commerce CHIPS incentives and loan capacity for its mine-to-magnet strategy across Texas, Oklahoma, and South Carolina.

Applied Aerospace & Defense priced its IPO at 32.5M shares at $20 each, with trading expected on the NYSE under AADX.

Mach Industries raised $300M from Infinite Capital, Ribbit Capital, Bedrock, Sequoia, Khosla, and others at a $1.8B valuation.

Quobly closed a €130M Series A to advance silicon quantum chips and first commercial systems.

Daqo New Energy signed a Kunshan investment agreement with ¥2.1B planned for Phase 1 and about ¥6B preliminarily expected overall.

KLX Energy Services acquired Wolfpack Rentals assets for $17M, adding accommodations trailers, command centers, water filtration, and surface-rental logistics.

Westmag disclosed an $11M seed led by Andreessen Horowitz while ramping domestic production for hundreds of thousands of committed customer units.

Generac signed a hyperscale backup-power supply agreement tied to manufacturing and operations expansion in Wisconsin.

Saothair Capital acquired EAM Corp., the Jesup, Georgia absorbent-materials manufacturer formerly owned by Domtar.

Terra AI raised $20M to speed mineral and reservoir exploration for copper, rare earths, geothermal, and carbon-storage customers.