The Elements of Innovation Discovered
The Elements of Innovation Discovered
Metal Tech News - October 10, 2024
Rio Tinto's nearly $10 million into the Founders Factory's Mining Tech Accelerator program is helping to develop solutions to energy transition challenges.
Mining Tech Accelerator combines Founders Factory's venture-building expertise with Rio Tinto's mining insights.
Founders Factory has unveiled the first cohort of startups under its Mining Tech Accelerator, a program being advanced in partnership with Rio Tinto to discover and foster breakthrough technologies with the potential to transform the way mining companies deliver the minerals and metals the world needs.
To build upon its legacy of innovation and accelerate the development of technologies that will make mining more productive and sustainable going forward, Rio Tinto partnered with Founders Factory in April to invest A$14.4 million (US$9.7 million) in global pre-seed and seed-staged start-ups over the next three years.
"Rio has a proud history of innovation, and our purpose today is to find better ways to provide the materials the world needs," said Rio Tinto Chief Innovation Officer Dan Walker. "My team is charged with harnessing science and technology to strengthen the Rio of today and drive growth for the future via new revenue streams."
Mining Tech Accelerator combines Founders Factory's venture-building expertise with Rio Tinto's mining insights.
By combining Rio Tinto's funding and mining acumen with Founders Factory's global network of business startup experts and venture capitalists, Mining Tech Accelerator is backing entrepreneurs who are developing technologies that can help mining companies more sustainably meet the growing demand for minerals and metals critical to the energy transition.
"Many of the challenges we must address to support the energy transition don't have solutions today, so innovation is vital. And it has to happen at speed," Walker added. "Partnering with startups is key to delivering on our innovation strategy and we are delighted to welcome this first cohort of companies to the Founders Factory Mining Tech Accelerator program."
The first six companies selected for Founders Factory's Mining Tech Accelerator program are:
• BluumBio – A California-based biotech startup that has developed a database of enzymes found in nature capable of removing pollutants from soil, air, and water.
• Endolith – A Colorado-based company that is leveraging the power of microbes to increase the recovery of critical minerals like copper and lithium from low-grade ores.
• Magmatic – An Austria-based firm that is building a library of metal-binding proteins that can be used to efficiently and sustainably recover lithium and other metals.
• ProSpectral – A United Kingdom-based company that designed a new approach to spectral imaging that can be used by the mining sector for material detection and analysis.
• Sunchem – A California-based startup that is developing sustainable leaching and nano filter technologies for the precision separation and extraction of critical metals.
• Vycarb – A New York-based startup that is developing and deploying a technology that enables billion-ton fully-measured carbon dioxide removal and storage from water.
"We understand the vast opportunity ahead in decarbonizing and technologically transforming one of the world's most important industries-mining," said Founders Factory CEO Henry Lane Fox. "This first cohort of startups represents opportunities for disruption across the mining value chain, from material detection to waste remediation."
In addition to receiving seed capital, the six selected startups will enter a four-month accelerator program operated by Founders Factory. Under this program, the mining tech founders will be able to leverage the expertise of serial entrepreneurs to identify use cases for their technologies and unlock potential future commercial opportunities with Rio Tinto.
The program will culminate in Perth in December, offering opportunities to network with Rio leaders, access local facilities and testing grounds, and pitch pilots and proofs of concepts to the team.
"I'm excited to see the value that founders can gain not just from our own venture-building expertise, but from senior level access to the leadership team of Rio Tinto, one of the world's biggest mining companies," said Fox.
Rio Tinto and Founders Factory will select the six companies for the second Mining Tech Accelerator cohort in February. Startups wanting to join the program can visit Rio Tinto Mining Tech Accelerator to apply.
With more than 16 years of covering mining, Shane is renowned for his insights and and in-depth analysis of mining, mineral exploration and technology metals.
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