Ashish Gupta & Siddhartha (Sid) Paul from KonsciousPlanet/KP Labs

Critical metals like nickel and cobalt are slipping through the cracks and into landfills, and KP Labs is on a mission to get them back. Dr. Ashish Gupta and Siddhartha Paul, CEO and CTO and co-founders of KonsciousPlanet/KP Labs, break down how bacteria can pull valuable metals from e-waste, why recycling is really just energy independence in disguise, and why they're calling it urban mining.

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Click here to view the episode transcript.

0:00 - Intro and KP Labs origin story
3:26 - How the e-waste recycling technology works
8:39 - Black mass, battery chemistry, and the logistics problem
11:00 - America's recycling problem
14:40 - Democratizing the recycling process
18:29 - Commercialization plans and funding
24:02 - Founders' backgrounds and how they met
30:00 - Challenges in energy transition investing
35:39 - Houston ecosystem and helpful resources
38:07 - Investor misconceptions and how to pitch it right
42:58 - Reframing the business as urban mining
44:13 - What KP Labs is looking for right now

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