Startup · United States
Hertha Metals
HQ Conroe, TexasFounded 202211-50 employeesUpdated
Company developing a single-step process for steel and high-purity iron production, including iron for rare-earth magnet manufacturers.
Funding4 rounds · $151M
- Equity raised
- $151M
- Debt, secondaries & grants
- $68.7M
- Latest
- $68.7MDebt · Sep 29, 2026
| Announced | Stage | Amount | Valuation | Lead investors | Other investors | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 29, 2026 | Debt | $68.7M | — | — | — | Reported |
| Sep 29, 2026 | Series A | $134M | — | Doerr Capital, Khosla Ventures | Clean Energy Ventures, Pear, Siemens Financial Services, Toyota Ventures, U.S. Department of War | Confirmed |
| Jul 22, 2025 | Seed | Undisclosed | — | — | Clean Energy Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Pear | Reported |
| Jul 22, 2025 | Undisclosed | $17.0M | — | — | — | Reported |
- Debt$68.7MSep 29, 2026
- Series ALed by Doerr Capital, Khosla VenturesWith Clean Energy Ventures, Pear, Siemens Financial Services, Toyota Ventures, U.S. Department of WarConfirmed$134MSep 29, 2026
- SeedUndisclosedJul 22, 2025
- Undisclosed$17.0MJul 22, 2025
Raised counts equity rounds; debt, secondary sales and grants are totaled separately. Amounts in other currencies are converted at the announcement month's average rate. A ~ marks an estimated or converted amount.
Systems1
- Flex-HERS™A proprietary platform technology for steelmaking that can use natural gas, hydrogen, or electricity and process any grade of iron ore or waste oxide.
Newest unveiled first. Systems that belong to a government program link to the program page, where variants, costs and contracts are.
Capabilities1
| Technology | Role | Maturity | TRL | Notes | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced manufacturing and materials | Developer | — | — | classify_sectors run 172, haiku, taxonomy 2026-10-19: Single-step steel and high-purity iron production, including iron for rare-earth magnet makers; no defense customer stated. | Reported |
- Developerclassify_sectors run 172, haiku, taxonomy 2026-10-19: Single-step steel and high-purity iron production, including iron for rare-earth magnet makers; no defense customer stated.—Reported
Maturity and TRL describe this organization's work; the field-wide maturity is on each technology's page.
People1
| Person | Role |
|---|---|
| Laureen Meroueh · LinkedIn ↗ | Founder, CEO |
Sources9
Profile3
- 1CompanyAbout - Hertha Metals
Hertha Metals · Supports Organization · description, Organization · name, Organization · website
“Dr. Laureen Meroueh is the Founder and CEO of Hertha Metals, a venture-backed startup developing novel technology to modernize iron and steel production with greater efficiency, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. She is also the inventor of Hertha’s proprietary pyrometallurgical process, which underpins the company’s breakthrough approach.”
- 2
PitchBook · Supports Organization · employee range, Organization · founded year, Organization · linkedin url, Organization · x url
“employee_range: 11-50 (profile: 22)”
- 3
Sixth-Domain · Supports Organization · kind
“{"group": "startups", "id": "921fe483-46fa-4e01-aee8-da8b4eea8351", "name": "Hertha Metals"}”
Systems1
- 4
Hertha Metals · Supports System
“Hertha Metals is transforming steelmaking with Flex-HERS™, our proprietary platform technology powered by natural gas, hydrogen, and electricity. Unlike conventional processes, Flex-HERS™ enables steel production from any grade of iron ore or waste oxide, in any format—including fines and lumps—not just high-cost, DRI-grade pellets”
Funding4
- 5
Caplight · Oct 6, 2026 · Supports Funding round
“Jul 22, 2025”
- 6
PitchBook · Oct 6, 2026 · Supports Funding round
“22-Jul-2025”
- 7
Business Wire (Morningstar) · Sep 29, 2026 · Supports Funding round, Funding round · amount, Funding round · investors, Organization · country, Organization · description, Organization · hq city, Organization · ownership
“We led their seed round to back this vision”
- 8
LinkedIn · Supports Funding round, Organization · employee range, Organization · founded year, Organization · hq city, Organization · hq region, Organization · linkedin url
“funding round: Venture Round, 2025-07-22, USD 17,000,000”
People1
- 9
Crunchbase · Supports Organization · employee range, Organization · hq city, Organization · linkedin url, Role
“employee_range: 11-50 (profile: 11-50)”
Each fact on this page is attached to the sources that support it. Archived copies are linked when we keep one.