GeologicAI cashes in on data centre boom with $60.5-million CAD Series B

Mining tech startup will use funding to scale globally as demand for critical minerals intensifies.

Calgary-based mining tech startup GeologicAI has secured $44 million USD ($60.5 million CAD) in Series B funding as the intense demand for data centres translates to the critical minerals their computers are made of. 

The all-equity round was led by Swiss impact investor Blue Earth Capital, with participation from two multinational mining companies in BHP Ventures (the venture arm of Broken Hill Proprietary) and Rio Tinto. Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures (BEV), which backed GeologicAI’s Series A round, and other undisclosed returning investors also participated in the funding. 

GeologicAI’s tech helps mining companies analyze rock samples and identify resources below the Earth’s surface.

GeologicAI said it will use the funding to scale globally, expand its sensing technologies, and “deepen its presence in key mining jurisdictions.” A GeologicAI spokesperson told BetaKit in an email statement that the company is looking to build up its capacity to meet demand in the Middle East, South America, and Asia. The funding also comes with hiring plans, though the spokesperson declined to provide details.

GeologicAI currently has around 220 employees, over 80 percent of which are in Canada.

The company said its expansion comes as demand for the critical minerals its tech can help find, like lithium, copper, and rare earth elements, intensifies in tandem with the rapid growths of artificial intelligence (AI), data centres, and the energy transition. The energy transition refers to the global shift from a fossil fuel-based energy system to renewable energy sources, which require battery storage—and therefore rare earth metals.

“A significant increase in the supply of critical minerals is essential for the energy transition and specifically electrification, and we believe GeologicAI is at the forefront of providing solutions to improve the recovery process [for minerals] while reducing the environmental footprint [compared to conventional methods],” Blue Earth Capital head of private equity Kayode Akinola said in a statement. 

As AI becomes a priority in both public and private contexts, demand for the data centre compute capacity to power it has shot upward. In Canada alone, the federal government has a $2-billion initiative to finance the expansion of commercial AI data centres. Telecom giants Bell and Telus recently announced their own Canadian AI data centre projects, and the Province of Alberta is moving forward its own $100-billion plan to become the backbone of the nation’s AI infrastructure through data centres.

RELATED: Alberta’s tech sector is embracing an AI data centre boom. Will it pay off?

While the data centre boom continues, there is a question as to whether the infrastructure will outpace demand and create an AI “bubble.” Some hyperscalers, such as Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, have already cancelled proposed data centre contracts after spending tens of billions of dollars.

Founded in 2013, GeologicAI uses AI and sensors to help geologists capture data in rock and core samples in a quicker fashion than manual core logging processes. The company uses high-resolution imaging, X-ray fluorescence, and hyperspectral data to analyze rock samples and identify resources below the Earth’s surface. This is meant to help clients make better and faster decisions about where to explore as well as how to design and operate their mines.

After proving out its technology, GeologicAI started rolling out globally with the proceeds of a $30-million USD Series A round in July 2023, $10 million USD of which came from Crown corporation Export Development Canada (EDC). Last year, GeologicAI acquired fellow Calgary-based company Resource Modeling Solutions, a consultancy for “geostatistics and geometallurgy challenges,” to expand its product and service offerings. 

Feature image courtesy GeologicAI.

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