Cobalt, nickel, lithium, copper. These crucial minerals are the lifeblood of all things electric. Today’s startup KoBold Metals accelerates the discovery of these critical minerals.
⚾ The Elevator Pitch
Critical minerals such as copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt and rare earth elements are essential for all things electric, from wind turbines to EVs. However, current supply chains of mineral commodities face potential disruption, and are therefore critical to the Nation’s economic and national security.
This is where KoBold Metals step in. They combine geoscience, data integration, and artificial intelligence to accelerate the pace and decrease the cost of mineral exploration. As electric dominates more of our lives and renewable energy and infrastructure becomes more widespread, building infrastructure to maintain the supply of critical minerals becomes increasingly important.
👇 The Drop Down
💻 Site: https://www.koboldmetals.com/
🌱 Founded: 2018
📈 Trend: Industrial goods, Electric
🦶Traction: Raised $195M, backed by a16z, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, and others
Team: Kurt House | Josh Goldman | Jeff Jurinak
🔍 Why we like it
🇺🇸 National Infrastructure and Security
Investors have recently shifted their focus towards investments in companies that support national infrastructure and directly tackle our nation’s problems. The VC firm a16z is investing $500M alone in companies building in American Dynamism – companies that support the national interest. KoBold metals is exactly one of these companies. Critical mineral supply chains are extremely important and at potential risk of disruption, necessitating the need for companies like KoBold.
🌱 Green energy for the future
You can’t manufacture batteries without rare metals like lithium or cobalt. Current processes to mine these metals can be expensive, dangerous, and inefficient. KoBold Metals uses a combination of data and machine learning to accelerate the pace of mining rare metals while reducing costs. These minerals make EVs, wind turbines, and a future that runs on electric possible.