How pH7 is Going Global on Their Own Terms
Vancouver, British Columbia
Clean mining & metal recovery
2022
30-40 employees
When Mohammad Doostmohammadi founded pH7 Technologies in 2021, he wasn’t thinking about patents. He was trying to prove that clean metal recovery could compete with traditional mining, and that he could turn the science into a scalable business.
A few years later, the company’s been recognized on the Global Cleantech 100 and the World Economic Forum’s UpLink, with $1.5M in funding from PacifiCan, $1M from BC’s CICE Fund and more. What set them apart wasn’t luck, but the way Mohammad and his team had built pH7: focused, and determined to maintain their self-reliance as they grow.
We wanted to build and operate our own facilities, not license the process away. That meant our IP had to be airtight.
pH7’s electrochemical, closed-loop process replaces traditional methods with a proprietary clean system that recovers critical metals from both primary and secondary resources. It lets mining and recycling operators economically recover metals from low-grade ores, tailings, and complex feedstocks. Those are usually uneconomic or technically challenging to process, making the tech crucial to operators.
The potential was obvious, and the growth was fast. But each new partnership and expansion opportunity brought two challenges: finding the time and budget to protect their growing IP portfolio that underpins their business, and deciding whether to license their process or keep it fully in-house.
“We could have licensed the technology, but that would have meant giving up control of our process and our future,” Mohammad says. Expanding internationally also meant higher costs, more filings, and more pressure on him and the team.
“At the start, we didn’t have much money in the bank,” he says. “You’re watching every dollar.” Smart spending around what differentiated pH7 was critical.
Upon becoming Full Member with IAC in 2022, pH7 immediately leaned on the IP funding they could access, as well as the expert insights and resources he now had on hand; all from experts who know how to wield IP to support a growing business.
That support gave them something rare in the early stages of growth: the ability to move with speed while keeping their technology fully in their control. In practice, that meant protecting their core process, brand, and data so they could scale without giving up ownership or control of their technology. And the results came quickly.
“Every dollar matters,” Mohammad says, explaining how having a strategy to guide every bit of IP support helped shape the growing business.
“IAC’s support: the grants, the training and the insurance… they helped us think long term when we could barely afford to.”
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The team also took part in IAC’s IP upskilling sessions, embedding the lessons across departments.
According to Shahram Pourazadi, pH7’s IP advisor, knowing their IP was secure gave Mohammad and the pH7 team the confidence to focus on execution, rather than weighing every decision against potential losses in ownership.
“IP isn’t just legal, it’s strategic,” says Shahram. “Having that support meant they could file in key markets quickly, stay in control of their process, and build the technology themselves instead of licensing early.”
As global interest in their technology grew, pH7 faced the same decision most deep-tech startups do: license their process to grow faster, or keep full control by building and operating their own facilities.
Many startups considering licensing their technology early because they need the capital or infrastructure to scale. pH7’s strong IP ownership position gave them a real choice. Working with IAC gave the team the confidence and clarity to make that choice strategically, knowing exactly what building the business in-house would mean for their long-term growth.
“We had the leverage to say no,” says Shahram. “That’s what let us build and operate our own facilities while keeping our process behind the curtain.”
Owning their process meant they could move at their own pace, without the slow negotiations and due diligence that come with partner licensing. It kept the business focused, flexible, and fully in control of its technology.
Mohammad and his team’s IP groundwork now serves as a growth advantage.
Since building its foundational ownership position using IP, pH7 has been recognized by the World Economic Forum’s UpLink, named to the Global Cleantech 100, and awarded BC’s 2025 Venture of the Year. It has also received major public funding from CICE, MICA, PacifiCan, and BC’s ICE Fund, tangible proof that clarity and ownership create confidence.
Internally, Mohammad says the shift has been just as meaningful. Trade secret policies, staff training, and company-wide IP awareness… all are now standard practice for his team. “Everything is IP,” Mohammad says. “Even the things you’d think are small. IAC helped us see that.”
They grew faster by being intentional about keeping their innovation in their hands. Not on the market.
With IAC’s support and expert-led resources, Mohammad and pH7 built the kind of IP foundation that let it grow without compromise: faster, stronger, and fully in control of what they’d created. They learned they didn’t have to choose between speed and security.
For founders like Mohammad, IP isn’t red tape. It’s how you secure what you’ve built, and use it to grow with confidence.
By investing in their IP ownership position early on, pH7:
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