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Factory News

Founders Factory & Rio Tinto invest in reduced-impact mining through AI & breakthrough technologies

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Factory News

Founders Factory & Rio Tinto invest in reduced-impact mining through AI & breakthrough technologies

Words Founders Factory

April 23rd 2025 / 3 min read

Founders Factory’s Mining Tech Accelerator is a partnership with Rio Tinto to find breakthrough technologies in the mining industry
Startups include Terra AI (AI for mineral exploration), Rock Zero (zero waste lithium extraction), and Perth-based Ekion (reduced-impact mining)
Rio Tinto and early stage investor Founders Factory have jointly backed twelve startups to date

London, April 23rd 2025: Founders Factory has announced its latest six investments alongside Rio Tinto, with the early-stage investor and mining industry leader together looking to reshape the industry’s future through reduced-impact mining and other breakthrough technologies.

The Mining Tech Accelerator, a partnership between Founders Factory and Rio Tinto, aims to invest in technologies that are accelerating, optimising, and decarbonising the mining value chain. Together, they plan to invest in twelve startups annually from around the world.

The six investments are:

Durin—automated drilling rigs to accelerate mineral discovery and reduce exploration costs (Los Angeles, US)
Rock Zero—zero-waste, cost-efficient process to extract lithium from hard rock deposits (Cambridge, US)
Terra AI—AI for mineral exploration to reduce drilling costs and improve accuracy (Palo Alto, US)
Ekion—electrokinetic in-situ recovery (EK-ISR) technology to extract metals from stranded deposits with minimal waste and emissions (Perth, Australia)
Rainstick—agriculture & nature restoration using electrical fields to mimic the natural effects of lightning, boosting seed yields faster and more sustainably (Cairns, Australia)
Thunderstone—reduced-impact mining using underground electric stimulation to extract critical metals with minimal waste and cost (US)

George Northcott, President at Founders Factory: “Working with Rio Tinto has given us tremendous insight into key opportunities for innovation across the mining value chain, represented by these six promising investments. Reduced-impact mining sits front and centre for the business, as they look for more efficient, less environmentally-impacting methods for the discovery and extraction of critical metals. It’s clear this represents a transformational change for the industry, paving the way for industrial transformation and decarbonisation.”

Dan Walker, Chief Innovation Officer at Rio Tinto: “Collaborating with startups gives us access to innovative ideas, diverse skill sets, and rapid solutions. Through our Mining Tech Accelerator, Founders Factory and Rio Tinto are partnering with startups to develop breakthrough technologies that tackle key challenges in mining and sustainability. Meeting the growing global energy demand is deeply complex, and collaboration is essential to delivering the materials the world needs—faster, more sustainably, and more cost-effectively.”

As well as receiving seed capital, these six startups will enter a four-month accelerator program, operated by Founders Factory, aiming to help founders identify clear use cases for their technology and pathways to commercialisation with Rio Tinto. This includes rigorous operational support, direct access to Rio Tinto’s executives, and opportunities to pitch pilots and POCs to their team, including a residential program in Perth.

The previous cohort, which kicked off in September 2024, included investments in US-based Endolith (next-gen copper extraction) and Cambridge University spinout Prospectral (ultra compact imaging sensors for material detection).

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To find out more about the Mining Tech Accelerator:

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Media contacts

For further information on the news above or to request an interview, please contact Laura Moross (on behalf of founders Factory) at laura.moross@foundersfactory.co

About Founders Factory

Founders Factory builds and funds startups together with exceptional entrepreneurs and the world's leading companies.

Created by IPO-exited founders and operating globally, including London, New York, Berlin, Milan, Perth, and Singapore, Founders Factory offers founders capital, operational support from a team of hands-on experts, and unrivalled access to a coalition of industry leading corporate partners.

Founders Factory's Venture Studio co-founds businesses from inception, developing new ideas, technologies and business models into high growth companies. Operating sector-focused Accelerator programmes and Venture Funds for pre-seed and seed stage startups, Founders Factory invests in talented and diverse founding teams across industries and geographies - with a current focus on FinTech, Health, Climate, and Deep Tech.

Since 2015, Founders Factory's 300+ portfolio companies have raised $4bn+ follow-on funding from leading funds and investors.