Metal Morph raises GBP £700,000 to recycle water chemicals

Metal Morph has raised £700,000 in a pre-seed funding round co-led by Sustainable Ventures and Green Angel Ventures.

Aqcelerator and Found Capital also participated in the investment in the London-based company, which is developing a process to recover water treatment chemicals from wastewater for reuse.

The funding comes as Metal Morph works to move its technology closer to industrial deployment after completing more than 50 live tests across three drinking water treatment plants. Those tests showed it could recover 90% of spent aluminium and iron-based treatment chemicals at 95% purity.

The process also cut coagulation-related operating costs by 26% and reduced emissions linked to coagulant procurement by up to 89%, according to the company. Coagulants are widely used in water and wastewater treatment to remove impurities.

Market reach

Despite its early stage, Metal Morph already has partnerships with six UK water utilities, including Anglian Water and Thames Water. Together, those agreements cover 56% of the UK water market, it said.

The company has also secured a £100,000 grant from Ofwat, with a further £450,000 available if it meets project milestones. That support adds to the equity funding as the business expands pilot work with utilities and industrial operators.

Metal Morph was founded by Moletsane Mophethe, who said his experience of water scarcity in Lesotho shaped the business.

"Growing up in a place where access to clean water was uncertain instilled in me an appreciation of how fragile access to essential resources can be. With Metal Morph, I want to help change that reality. Water infrastructure is one of the most overlooked industrial supply chains in the world. By harnessing it correctly, we are fundamentally reshaping the supply of essential chemicals to reduce the cost of water production," said Moletsane Mophethe, Founder of Metal Morph.

The company's first product focuses on recovering aluminium and iron-based chemicals that would otherwise be discharged to sewer, sent to landfill, or spread on land. Those recovered chemicals can then be fed back into the treatment process, creating a circular supply chain within water infrastructure.

Utilities are facing tighter regulation, cost pressure, and growing concern over supply security for industrial materials and chemicals. Metal Morph argues that recovering chemicals already present in wastewater streams could reduce dependence on primary supply chains that have become more vulnerable to disruption.

Investor backing

Sustainable Ventures said the business is addressing a gap in municipal and industrial infrastructure.

"Metal Morph addresses a critical blind spot in municipal and industrial infrastructure. If deployed successfully, the team could transform water and wastewater treatment processes into active resource recovery facilities, creating a circular economy in the process. It is an urgently needed solution to an increasingly complex problem," said Armistead-Wood.

Green Angel Ventures pointed to cost and environmental pressures on the water sector.

"The early interest in Metal Morph reflects the growing pressure on water utilities and industrial operators to curb rising costs while improving sustainability. The company's differentiated process enables the recovery of essential materials at high purity, with the potential to deliver meaningful commercial and environmental benefits across the water sector and beyond," said Ross.

Metal Morph was incorporated in 2025 and has built a team of nine with backgrounds in resource recovery, water infrastructure, commercialisation, and scaling. The team has experience from organisations including Arup, Bloomberg, British Water, Deep Science Ventures, Imperial, and Stanford, according to the company.

Alongside its UK work, Metal Morph is in discussions about projects in continental Europe. Aqcelerator's involvement in the funding round followed talks with Aquafin, a Belgian utility that controls 60% of household wastewater treatment in Belgium, it said.

The business has also attracted recognition from industry bodies. Mophethe received the 2024 Leaders in Innovation Fellowship from the Royal Academy of Engineering, while Metal Morph was named a finalist in the Royal Society of Chemistry's Emerging Technologies competition.

For investors, the significance of the deal lies in whether the company can translate promising trial data and utility partnerships into full-scale adoption in a sector that is typically cautious about new infrastructure processes. If it does, Metal Morph will be entering a market where cutting chemical costs and reducing emissions have both become urgent priorities.

The new funding will support further validation with water utilities and industrial partners as the company moves from laboratory and pilot testing towards broader deployment.