BESTR, a Korean startup building tungsten circular economy infrastructure, has completed the first closing of its Series A round with investments from Korea Investment Partners, Korea Investment Accelerator, Dongil Industry, and Baro Ventures.

The company plans to use the funding to launch mass production capabilities for domestic tungsten self-sufficiency. As a first step, BESTR will establish a production facility with an annual capacity of 360 tons, working to stabilize the global supply chain while providing critical mineral supply solutions.

BESTRr has developed Korea’s first tungsten refining technology using an ammonia-free process, making it possible to achieve domestic self-sufficiency in tungsten—a critical mineral heavily dependent on China. The technology overcomes environmental, wastewater, carbon, and economic limitations of traditional processes. The company successfully produces high-purity H₂WO₄ (tungstic acid) that replaces APT, an essential intermediate material in tungsten processing, and has proven its mass production capabilities by achieving a 1,000-fold scale-up from pilot stage.

After completing validation with top-tier domestic and international clients, BESTR is now pushing forward with building a sustainable domestic supply chain and expanding its global tungsten value chain.

A representative from Korea Investment Accelerator said, “It’s meaningful that we can make follow-on investments alongside our sister company Korea Investment Partners in a deal we discovered. We plan to actively support BESTR’s goal of achieving domestic tungsten self-sufficiency moving forward.”

A BESTR representative said, “Through this first closing, we’ve gained top-tier financial and strategic investors as shareholders, which feels like having strong allies on our side. We’ll successfully close the second round of Series A to reward our shareholders’ trust.”