Missoula company’s zero-waste coal-ash recovery pitch, “All Hands on Deck,” earns a podium finish among ten finalists at the University of Montana
MISSOULA, Mont. — October 26, 2026 — Montana Critical Metals Inc. (MCM), a Missoula-based company developing technology to recover rare-earth elements, critical metals and construction materials from coal combustion residuals, placed third at the inaugural Startup World Cup Montana Regional, held October 21, 2026, in the University Center Ballroom at the University of Montana.
The Montana regional, hosted by the University of Montana College of Business as part of the three-day CoBuild Summit, was the first time the global Startup World Cup competition has been staged in Montana. Ten startups were selected from the applicant pool to pitch before a panel of investors and entrepreneurs. The regional winner advances to the Startup World Cup Grand Finale in San Francisco on November 6, 2026, where regional champions from around the world compete for a US $1,000,000 investment prize. Startup World Cup is organized by Pegasus Tech Ventures, and the Montana event was sponsored by VBX Venture Studio, Blackfoot Communications and the UM College of Business.
MCM’s four-minute pitch, titled “All Hands on Deck,” was delivered by Bradley Layton, PhD, PE, President and Chief Technical Officer, and Reggie Spaulding, Chief Science Officer. The presentation framed the global squeeze on critical-mineral supply as a “polycrisis” and introduced MCM’s answer: a multi-product flowsheet that treats coal ash not as a waste liability but as a domestic ore body.
“Montana has hosted a lot of mining history, and we think it can host the next chapter, where the feedstock is already above ground,” said Layton. “Placing third in a field this strong, in front of this many Montana investors and builders, tells us the message is landing. Now we need the capital and the partners to move from the bench to a demonstration unit.”
Turning a liability into three products
Coal-fired power plants across the United States have left behind hundreds of millions of tons of coal combustion residuals (CCR), commonly called coal ash. MCM’s process is designed to extract rare-earth elements and critical metals such as gallium and scandium from that ash while converting the remaining material into two established commodity products: supplementary cementitious material (SCM) for concrete and synthetic gypsum for wallboard and agriculture. The flowsheet is engineered for continuous operation with reagent recycling and no final discharge stream.
Independent ICP-MS characterization of MCM’s Powder River Basin feedstock has confirmed the presence of the targeted rare-earth and critical-metal suite, including the neodymium, dysprosium, terbium and yttrium group that the U.S. Department of Energy has designated as supply-constrained. MCM has demonstrated extraction at bench scale across multiple feedstocks and is now working to scale an integrated pilot unit in Montana.
“Our science team has spent years characterizing this material and tuning the chemistry,” said Spaulding. “What excites me about the competition is that the judges understood the difference between a single-metal recovery story and a true zero-waste process. That is the standard we are building to.”
MCM operates as the processing partner under a Montana Department of Environmental Quality Beneficial Use Determination that provides access to CCR from the Colstrip Steam Electric Station, and the company is working with university, national-laboratory and industry collaborators on extraction, product qualification and offtake.
An invitation to invest
Montana Critical Metals is currently conducting an offering of common stock under Regulation Crowdfunding (Section 4(a)(6) of the Securities Act) through Netcapital, a funding portal that allows both accredited and non-accredited investors to participate. MCM encourages supporters, partners and members of the public who want to help rebuild domestic critical-mineral production capacity to review the offering and consider investing:
Montana Critical Metals on Netcapital — https://netcapital.com/companies/mcm
Full offering details, including the Form C offering statement and risk factors, are available on the Netcapital offering page.
About Montana Critical Metals
Montana Critical Metals Inc. is a Missoula, Montana, company developing a zero-waste process to recover rare-earth elements, critical metals, supplementary cementitious material and gypsum from coal combustion residuals. Founded by engineers and scientists with roots in Montana’s energy and research communities, MCM is working to convert legacy coal-ash liabilities into a domestic source of the materials needed for magnets, semiconductors, defense systems and low-carbon construction. Learn more at montanacriticalmetals.com and follow MCM on LinkedIn.
About Startup World Cup
Startup World Cup is a global series of startup conferences and competitions organized by Pegasus Tech Ventures, with more than 60 regional events worldwide. Regional winners advance to the Grand Finale in San Francisco to compete for a US $1 million investment prize. The 2026 Montana Regional was hosted by the University of Montana College of Business as part of the CoBuild Summit, October 20–22, 2026, in Missoula.
