Southlake-based Principal Mineral has acquired Isola Group, a maker of printed circuit board materials founded in 1912, and raised approximately $280 million in new funding. The deal accelerates the two-year-old company’s mission to rebuild what it calls the “missing midstream” of the U.S. critical-materials supply chain — the manufacturing layer between raw metals and finished electronics that has largely moved overseas.
Building the Domestic Supply Chain
The Isola acquisition is Principal Mineral’s second major deal. In 2025, it acquired and relaunched Camden Copper in South Carolina, described by trade outlet PCD&F as the last U.S. plant producing electrodeposited copper foil — a defense-grade material used in printed circuit boards. Together, the two businesses bring together copper foil and copper-clad laminates, foundational materials for advanced PCBs, as reported by Dallas Innovates.
CEO Adam Johnson said the combined company strengthens “the manufacturing capabilities that underpin advanced electronics, helping reduce supply-chain vulnerabilities while ensuring customers have reliable access to the materials needed for aerospace, communications and satellites, AI infrastructure, and energy applications.”
Scale and North Texas Impact
The combined entity will employ about 1,300 people across 10 facilities worldwide. The $280 million funding round was co-led by Overmatch Ventures and The New Industrial Corporation, with participation from J2 Ventures and Ensemble VC, alongside a credit facility from Lane42 Investment Partners.
The acquisition also highlights North Texas’ growing role as a hub for companies focused on supply chain resilience and national security technology. The region’s concentration of defense contractors, semiconductor designers, and logistics operators creates a natural customer base for critical materials suppliers. Principal Mineral’s Southlake headquarters places it in the heart of the DFW corporate corridor, with proximity to major defense procurement offices and the semiconductor design teams based in Richardson’s Telecom Corridor. The company’s growth trajectory — from a startup in 2024 to a 1,300-employee global operation by mid-2026 — reflects the urgency policymakers and industry leaders attach to reshoring critical materials manufacturing.
In an April commentary in The Dallas Morning News, Johnson framed the stakes in local terms: “the F-35s assembled in Fort Worth” to “the data centers and telecom networks that have sprouted in North Texas” all depend on secure supplies of metals, magnets, and copper-rich electronics. Each roll of foil from Camden, he wrote, is “one less critical component that has to transit a contested sea lane.”
