About Pioneer Materials
Driving Innovation, Securing Supply Chains, and Creating Opportunities
Transforming Intellectual Property into Thriving Businesses
At Pioneer Materials Innovation Cluster (PMIC), we do more than simply invest in ideas—we build entire companies around groundbreaking innovations.
As a leading venture studio, we operate as a strategic funnel that takes cutting-edge intellectual property and transforms it into scalable businesses poised to revolutionize critical sectors such as mining, defense, and advanced materials. Our collaborative approach allows us to partner closely with Montana research institutions, leveraging their research excellence and turning promising discoveries into market-ready solutions.
To position Montana as THE nation's epicenter for critical materials innovation.
By nurturing homegrown startups and building robust supply chains, we aim to ensure that the United States can sustainably source the critical minerals and materials essential to its economic security and technological advancement.
Our Vision
Our Bold Vision is Clear
Critical materials fuel modern industries—from renewable energy and electric vehicles to advanced defense systems.
Currently, these essential resources rely heavily on overseas suppliers, especially China. PMIC's mission is to change this, fostering homegrown innovation to build resilient, Montana-based companies that enhance national security and drive significant economic growth.
Our Mission
Securing America’s Materials Future
Our Core Values
Collaboration
Candor
Value Creation
Collaboration Candor Value Creation
Meet Our Team
Our team is composed of seasoned entrepreneurs, industry veterans, and strategic advisors who collectively bring over 30 years of combined experience in startups, investment, commercialization, and supply chain innovation. We are candid, agile, and highly effective collaborators, committed to delivering tangible results and impactful solutions.
Elle Gahl
Elle is the Executive Director of PMIC. Her love for American entrepreneurship inspired her to take the leap into technology licensing and commercialization in 2020, after transforming byproduct revenue streams while running Cargill’s largest site in North America. Elle is the President and CEO of Shadow Ridge Analytics, the prime contractor operating PMIC. She is a Certified Licensing Professional and has years of experience working with federal, state, and private entities to evaluate and license promising technologies that add value to national security, manufacturing, quantum, and sensing applications. Elle is a Montana State Alum and Helena, MT local.
Alex McKenzie
Alex is a partner at Homestake Venture Partners, where he aligns mission-driven capital with value-aligned investment opportunities to drive local wealth creation and economic resiliency. He specializes in developing organizational partnerships, leading due diligence underwriting, and designing investment strategies that create positive economic impacts for communities. With expertise in program design, stakeholder collaboration, and market research, Alex brings a multidisciplinary perspective to fostering wealth-creating opportunities for underserved communities across the United States.
Morgan Weidow
Morgan brings a dynamic combination of technology evaluation, business case analysis, and marketing intuition. She leads advanced research, patent analysis, financial modeling, valuation, and commercialization support projects. Morgan is a native Montanan and graduate of the University of Montana. When she is not providing awesome insight for her clients, Morgan is volunteering with education programs or hiking with her dog.
Partner With Us
Whether you're a researcher with promising intellectual property, an entrepreneur with a bold idea, an investor looking for high-impact opportunities, or a stakeholder invested in economic growth, we invite you to collaborate with us. Together, we can transform potential into reality and make Montana the heart of America's critical materials innovation.
