KoBold, a US mining startup backed by billionaire investors including Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, raised $537 million in its latest funding round, the company said.
The funding round, co-led by investors Durable Capital Partners LP and T. Rowe Price, valued KoBold at $2.96 billion, according to the company.
Existing backers including venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which counts Bezos as an investor, also participated in the funding round, as well as new money from StepStone.
The US mining startup has raised a whopping $1 billion to date as it seeks to undermine China’s dominance in the mineral supply chain.
KoBold uses artificial intelligence, including OpenAI’s generative AI, to sift through historical and scientific data to find mineral deposits.
According to the company, KoBold, a US mining startup supported by billionaire investors like Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, raised $537 million in its most recent funding round.
Investors T and Durable Capital Partners LP co-led the funding round. According to the business, Rowe Price valued KoBold at $2.96 billion.
The funding round included new funding from StepStone in addition to existing backers, including venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz and Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, which includes Bezos as an investor.
In an attempt to challenge China’s hegemony in the mineral supply chain, the US mining startup has raised an astounding $1 billion so far.
KoBold searches historical and scientific data for mineral deposits using artificial intelligence, including generative AI from OpenAI.
For the supply of in-demand metals like copper, lithium, and nickel—used in data centers, cell phones, and electric vehicle batteries—the US is largely dependent on China.
Kurt House, CEO of KoBold, stated in a statement that the company’s goal is to increase and diversify the world’s supply of vital resources that are necessary for security, energy technology, prosperity, and artificial intelligence.
The company stated that it will use the multi-million dollar investment to support research and development as well as new exploration projects.
According to the company, the money will be utilized to further “high-potential projects,” such as a massive copper deposit in Zambia that KoBold found in February.
According to the company, the $2 billion mine will yield at least 300,000 tons of copper annually.
In a statement, managing partner and chief investment officer Henry Ellenbogen of Durable Capital Partners LP said, “KoBold demonstrates how the blend of scientific excellence and AI can enable the discovery of critical metals for the global energy transition.”.
