Seloxium: EIC Accelerator Bet on Critical Metals From Waste

Critical metals in chemical and mining waste are lost because the streams are "too diluted, hazardous or complex for today’s recovery systems", Seloxium argues in its EU project summary, and most of that waste is incinerated or exported. The company, a 2022 spin-out of the University of Oxford, says its reagent, Selectal, binds the target metal in a single water-based phase so it can be precipitated, filtered and recovered on site, and the reagent reused. The company's CORDIS project summary claims over 96% recovery of metals such as rhodium, palladium, gold and rare earths at over 99% purity "in just hours".

The EIC Accelerator selected the project, SELECTAL, at its 6 May 2026 cut-off as a grant-only award. CORDIS records an EU contribution of €2,493,159.38 under a grant agreement signed on 28 September 2026, for a project running from 1 October 2026 to 30 September 2028. The money is meant to build and pilot the first 1,000 litre per day containerised unit at a customer's site. One month into that period, this article sets out what the record already shows and what it does not.

A reagent that stays in the water

The University of Oxford's Engineering Science department announced the spin-out in October 2022, describing Selectal as a "multi-patented" selective flocculation platform co-invented by Associate Professor Nick Hankins, aimed at metals such as gold, platinum and rare earths that conventional wastewater treatment struggles to remove. The company website describes four steps: add Selectal to a waste, process or mining leachate stream, precipitate and filter, recover the metal, and reuse the reagent. Its June 2026 release calls it a "liquid metal-binding polymer platform".

The difference from the established routes, according to the CORDIS summary, is the single aqueous phase. The summary says Selectal eliminates "the phase barriers that slow or foul other technologies", and that existing solutions are "too slow, fragile or centralised to operate at source"; it adds that most such waste is incinerated or exported, with producers "losing up to 65% of the metal's value". The company has not published the chemistry of Selectal. Hankins described a related idea, a polymer surfactant aggregate process, in a May 2023 lecture: functionalised water-soluble polymers bind a metal ion, and surfactant aggregates then neutralise the charge so the complexes flocculate and settle. No source reviewed states that this process is Selectal, and no patent number for Selectal could be found in web searches on 4 November 2026.

The website adds three comparisons: 25% more metal value extracted, four times faster, and 50% lower capital cost. It does not say what they are measured against. None of the figures in this section has been published in an independent test.

What the EIC is paying for

SELECTAL was funded under the 2026 Accelerator challenge "Boosting the European Critical Raw Materials value chain", per CORDIS. The objective is specific: "complete TRL 8 by designing, building and piloting its first 1,000 L/day modular demonstrator unit on a pilot customer's site", validating performance, automating core processes and demonstrating commercial viability. CORDIS lists Seloxium as the only participant, gives no total project cost, and names no pilot customer.

The award is grant only for a structural reason. The UK government's explainer on the 2023 association agreement states that UK entities are excluded from the EIC Fund, which provides the equity side of Accelerator awards. Seloxium announced the award on 23 June 2026 under a headline crediting the "European Council"; the body of the release names the European Innovation Council and quotes CEO Christian Peters calling it "a major milestone for Seloxium". The release gives no amount.

1. Design and build a 1,000 L/day containerised demonstratorNot yet dueProject started 1 October 2026, per CORDIS; no report filed yet.
2. Pilot at a customer siteCustomer not namedNeither CORDIS nor the company's news page names the pilot customer.
3. Over 96% recovery at over 99% purityCompany claimStated in the project summary; no independent test data published.
4. Earlier containerised pilot under Innovate UKReported near completionNearing completion in March 2026, per the Innovate UK Business Connect case study; completion not confirmed there.

What existed before the grant

The EIC project builds on UK public money. Seloxium's April 2025 release announced a £2 million Investor Partnership project from Innovate UK's Supply Chain Innovations for Rare Earths competition, part of the CLIMATES programme, to build a modular containerised system for rare earths from ionic clays, volcanic tuffs, mine waste and end-of-life magnets; it called this its third Innovate UK grant. An Innovate UK Business Connect case study of 25 March 2026 lists a £364,000 feasibility study, the £2 million Investor Partnership project and a £900,000 grant for a containerised pilot system, which it said was nearing completion with a target end of March 2026 and deployment at customer sites as the next phase. The case study does not say whether the £900,000 is part of the £2 million.

The company's operations are split between Oxford and Teesside. BusinessCloud reported in March 2025 that a new facility at the Wilton Centre was to scale up commercial operations, with research and development staying in Oxford. On 22 June 2026 the UK government launched a £50 million critical minerals programme at the Wilton Centre, describing it as the home of Seloxium and DEScycle, and the industry minister toured both firms; letsrecycle.com reported the same visit. Whether Seloxium receives any of that £50 million is not stated in either source.

The money: £6 million of seed equity and rising costs

Seloxium announced a £6 million seed round in March 2025, co-led by Oxford Science Enterprises and MKS PAMP, which BusinessCloud describes as a global leader in the precious metals industry, with the University of Oxford and angel investors, as BusinessCloud also reported. The accounts to 30 June 2024 record the shares behind it: seed preferred shares issued on 19 August, 29 November and 13 December 2024 for a total consideration of £5,996,630. A further 187,401 seed preferred shares were issued on 11 February 2026 for £783,336, per the accounts to 31 January 2026.

The company files small-company accounts without a profit and loss account, so whether it has any revenue is not public. The statements of changes in equity show the loss for each period: £738,172 in the year to June 2024, £1,913,291 in the year to June 2025 and £1,799,521 in the seven months to January 2026, after the company shortened its financial year. Accumulated losses reached £4,835,860.

Cash at bank stood at £3,246,883 on 31 January 2026, down from £4,301,211 seven months earlier, and net assets on the balance sheet at £3,988,317. The going concern note in the same accounts gives net assets of £3.76 million and cash of £3.25 million; the two net asset figures differ and the accounts do not explain why. The directors state that cash flow forecasts show reserves lasting at least 12 months from the approval date of 11 June 2026.

Headcount followed the money. The average number of employees was 4 in the first period to June 2023, 8 in the year to June 2024, 15 in the year to June 2025 and 18 in the seven months to January 2026, per the accounts to 30 June 2025 and the later filings. The company appointed a chief commercial officer in December 2024, a non-executive chair in June 2025 and a chief financial officer in February 2026.

Where Seloxium stands

Seloxium is active. Companies House lists the company as active, with accounts to 31 January 2026 filed in June 2026 and a confirmation statement dated 19 June 2026; the register shows resolutions on the allotment of shares filed on 24 August 2026. No insolvency filing or name change appears on the register. CORDIS lists one EU project for the company, SELECTAL, in a search of its database on 4 November 2026.

The European case

The metals named in the project sit on the EU's list. Annex II of the Critical Raw Materials Act lists platinum group metals and heavy and light rare earth elements as critical raw materials; gold is not on it. The Commission's summary of the Act sets 2030 benchmarks of at least 25% of EU annual consumption from recycling and at most 65% from any single third country. Recovering these metals from European process waste, rather than exporting or incinerating it, is the gap the SELECTAL objective describes. The company is British, and whether its first customer sites will be in the EU or the UK is not public.

Verdict

Seloxium has not been asked for comment for this article. The reporting is based on publicly available sources, listed below.