SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — KoBold, a U.S. mining technology startup backed by billionaires Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos, secured $537 million in its latest funding round, valuing the company at nearly $3 billion as it seeks to transform mineral exploration through artificial intelligence.
The funding round, co-led by Durable Capital Partners LP and T. Rowe Price, brings KoBold’s total raised capital to $1 billion. Existing investors Andreessen Horowitz and Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures participated, alongside new investor StepStone.
KoBold’s AI-driven approach aims to revolutionize how critical minerals are discovered, particularly targeting copper, lithium, and nickel deposits essential for electric vehicles and advanced technologies. The company’s platform incorporates OpenAI’s generative AI to analyze historical and scientific data, accelerating resource discovery.
CEO Kurt House emphasized the company’s mission to diversify global mineral supplies, currently dominated by China. “KoBold’s mission is to expand and diversify the global supply of critical resources essential for prosperity, energy technology, AI, and security,” House stated.
The investment follows KoBold’s significant copper discovery in Zambia last February. The $2 billion mining project is expected to yield 300,000 tons of copper annually, demonstrating the effectiveness of the company’s AI-powered exploration methods.
Henry Ellenbogen, managing partner at Durable Capital Partners LP, highlighted the strategic importance of combining scientific expertise with AI technology: “KoBold shows how the combination of scientific excellence and AI can enable the discovery of critical metals for the global energy transition.”
The funding will support new exploration initiatives and enhance the company’s research and development capabilities as it works to address growing demand for minerals crucial to renewable energy technologies and reduce reliance on Chinese supply chains.
