NOX METALS (YC S25)

Zane from Nox Metals brought an actual metal cube to YC Demo Day. While his batch mates demoed software on laptops, he hefted a 50-pound block of steel onto the table. Nox is building the most efficient metal service centers in America, cutting costs for every factory that needs raw materials. They're targeting the $300 billion metal service industry that puts a "tax" on every piece of metal sold in America. As AI companies scale, they need physical infrastructure. The founders building AI agents etc etc will eventually need servers, chips, and components. Someone has to cut, shape, and deliver the “atoms” that power the “bits”! Nox closed their round in weeks. Their family business background gives them domain expertise that software engineers can't replicate. When your dad ran a machine shop and you started scrubbing floors at 14, you understand manufacturing in ways that can't be learned from documentation. China dominates metal supply chains because they built efficient, integrated systems.... Nox is betting they can compete with better technology, automation, and American manufacturing advantages. The tariff environment makes domestic supply chains more valuable. Among re-industrialization trends and bringing manufacturing back to America, we need reliable suppliers who can deliver materials quickly and cost-effectively. Nox wants to be the AWS of metal - making raw materials as accessible as cloud computing. When AI scales beyond servers into robots, autonomous vehicles, and physical automation, the companies controlling the supply chain for raw materials will capture enormous value. The metal cube is a reminder that even in the day and age of AI… someone still has to make the stuff that makes the stuff!

At Nox Metals, every pound of steel and aluminum we move goes straight into America’s factories. >Tool & die shops >Aerospace suppliers >Automotive innovators >Heavy industry and beyond Service centers are the bloodstream of American manufacturing. $800M+ of metal flows into the industrial base every single day, and we’re building the next generation supply chain to make it faster, cheaper, and stronger. Every order is part of something bigger: reindustrialization. Our mission is simple — supply America’s builders with metal at speed and cost that puts us back on top.

At NOX METALS (YC S25) we want to double, triple, and quadruple down on content/social/marketing. This is where 90% of our RFQs come from. We are hiring for a position to help us grow our reach. If you’d like to help supply America’s industrial base and want to build out of a Detroit WW2 factory, DM me!

Check out our new saw! Visit our website for a RFQ.

Having spent ~90 days/year in Chinese factories for the first half of my career, I have seen the scale first hand. And I don’t think most people can fathom it. It will take a Herculean effort to even ‘chip away’ (pun intended) at supplying America’s materials, components, assemblies and products. It’s going to take big swings to make dents, and Zane Hengsperger is doing just that at NOX METALS (YC S25). Complete vertical integration of metal cutting and processing in an AI-first, tech forward world. Excited to be backing tomorrow’s captains of industry 🦾 at The Council.

Proud to announce our latest fundraise. We’re grateful to our investors, team, and customers for fueling our mission to strengthen America’s industrial base. From Detroit, we are building the next era of American metals supply.

WE HEARD IT WAS TIME TO REINDUSTRIALIZE. SO WE STEPPED UP TO THE PLATE TO SUPPLY AMERICA'S INDUSTRIAL BASE.

72 people on the list! If you are in Detroit and in manufacturing, we'd love for you to stop by our factory opening next month! RSVP in the comment below.

Daily Hard Tech Headlines: - Atomic Industries has raised a $25 million Series A. The Detroit-based startup develops software to automate tool design, enabling rapid tooling for American manufacturing. Atomic is already working with OEMs across critical industries. The round was led by MaC Venture Capital and DTX Ventures, with participation from the University of Michigan, Calm Ventures, Blackwing, Narya, and others. - Valar Atomics and Kiewit, the global construction firm, have broken ground on Valar’s Ward250 nuclear reactor at the San Rafael Energy Research Center. - REGENT Craft has partnered with Fairlead, the U.S. shipbuilder, to build out and deploy REGENT Defense’s seaglider technology, with end applications focused on contested logistics and other critical logistical missions. - Skyler Shuford is launching Reaxiomatic, a new defense tech firm, Skyler previously founded Hermeus, the hypersonic aircraft company - Shinkei has scaled up its facility, moving into a new 15,000-square-foot headquarters in El Segundo for R&D and manufacturing of its robotic systems. - Eureka Naval Craft has announced an agreement "with American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) and AIRCAT VESSELS to accelerate the safe development of high-speed, dual-use autonomous surface vessels for defense and offshore energy." Potential end-markets for the vessels include defense, offshore energy, logistics and more. - PBS GROUP a.s. and Pratt & Whitney have reached a deal to jointly design new auxiliary power units (APUs) aimed at both commercial and military aircraft - The Provenance Chain™ Network has secured a SBIR with the U.S. Navy focused on smart contracts for supply chain resilience. - Ondas Capital has appointed Karl Eze as a strategic advisor for its United Kingdom arm. Karl has over 10 years of British Army service and experience in finance and technology. - The Panama Canal Authority is planning to build an energy pipeline to enable new shipping routes for direct fuels and ethane. - AimLock and Teledyne FLIR have launched a partnership to equip FLIR’s SUGV 325 and Kobra 725 unmanned ground vehicles with AimLock’s autonomous targeting technology. - Shreenika, the San Diego–based chemical production startup, has moved to a new 8,000-square-foot facility, according to Fred Grier. - Steerprop has partnered with Seaspan Shipyards to provide propulsion systems for the heavy polar icebreaker now under construction at Seaspan’s Vancouver Shipyards for the Canadian Coast Guard. - Kreios Space, the European propulsion & satellite startup has raised an €8M seed round. - Ursa Major has secured a $34.9 million contract to develop Draper engines for an American aerospace and defense company. - NOX METALS (YC S25) has expanded its manufacturing capabilities with the addition of a KASTO plate saw at its Detroit headquarters. The new equipment will enable the company to deliver more cost-efficient, custom-cut plate, bar, and rounds to customers nationwide.

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