Illustration: Aïda Amer/Axios
AI mineral discovery startup KoBold Metals has closed a $537 million Series C, giving it a $2.96 billion valuation, the company said on Wednesday.
Why it matters: The massive round comes at a time when the venture environment for climate tech has cooled, particularly for growth financing.
Zoom in: The round was co-led by existing investor T Rowe Price and new investor Durable Capital Partners.
- Existing investors in the round included Silicon Valley VC firm Andreessen Horowitz Growth, Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Earthshot Ventures, and corporate VCs Equinor and Mitsubishi, among others.
- Sam Altman's Apollo Projects is also an investor in the company.
Catch up quick: KoBold revealed in a filing in October that it was raising a $527 million round.
- KoBold is developing a database about the Earth's crust. The company uses algorithms to mine that data to make predictions about the critical minerals under the ground in regions around the world.
- Last year the company said it found a massive copper deposit in Zambia. KoBold also hunts for lithium, nickel and cobalt.
The big picture: By tapping into the two hot VC trends — AI and battery minerals — KoBold has closed a major growth round at a relatively high valuation.
