Quaise Energy Raises $21 Million to Accelerate Terawatt-Scale Deep Geothermal Energy
Photo: Quaise Energy
Quaise Energy, the company unlocking terawatt-scale geothermal, announced today the closing of a $21 Million Series A1 financing round led by Prelude Ventures and Safar Partners. Mitsubishi Corporation and Standard Investments are among several new investors participating in the round. This latest funding will enhance Quaise field operations and strengthen the company’s supply chain position, while ongoing product development will continue with pre-existing capital.
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Recent core drilling by Quaise lays the groundwork for upcoming field demonstrations of millimeter wave drilling technology. Photo: Quaise Energy
Deep geothermal is one of the most promising sources to meet the global energy transition at scale by creating more energy with fewer resources. A deep geothermal power plant can create 10x more energy than conventional geothermal, provide 24/7 baseload power, and unlock near-universal access to clean energy on a small land footprint.
“The world needs, more than ever before, game-changing technologies that can deliver abundant carbon-free heat and power to become carbon neutral by 2050. We believe deep geothermal has great potential to become one of these technologies,” said Toshiaki Nobuhara, General Manager, International Utility Dept. of Mitsubishi Corporation. “We are honored and excited to join Quaise in its journey to make deep geothermal a reality.”
Quaise is uniquely positioned to harness deep geothermal energy worldwide at 3-20 km below the Earth’s surface. To achieve such a feat, the company has advanced a novel technique to vaporize rock using high-power microwaves in the millimeter range, based on more than a decade of research at MIT and recent testing at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The original MIT experiments have now been scaled up 100x, with field demonstrations commencing this year.
“The world needs vast amounts of carbon-free primary energy to transition away from fossil fuels,” said Mark Cupta, Managing Director at Prelude Ventures. "Quaise is creating a truly scalable solution that enables nearly any piece of land on Earth to yield abundant clean energy.”
The new funding aims to improve geologic understanding at pilot plant locations. Quaise will conduct magnetic and seismic surveys, among other tests, to identify the most advantageous areas for initial drilling. The data will inform the company where to place the first commercial pilots.
“We are excited about the commercial prospect for superhot geothermal as a global clean energy solution,” said Arunas Chesonis, Managing Partner and Investment Committee Member at Safar Partners.
The other target of the funding is to strengthen the supply chain for the company’s unique drilling technology. Due to international limitations and custom needs, Quaise is entering joint development and licensing agreements with manufacturers to ensure future equipment will meet design and capacity requirements.
“Our mission is to create the most sustainable and prosperous energy future for all,” said Carlos Araque, CEO and co-founder of Quaise Energy. "By accelerating our field operations and securing our supply chain, we are preparing deep geothermal to be the indispensable energy of the 21st century.”
A central focal point of Quaise is repurposing existing fossil-fired industrial assets. By drilling onsite at functional power plants to utilize the existing infrastructure and workforce, a smoother energy transition becomes possible. Deep geothermal power plants, harnessed globally, have the potential to collectively generate terawatts of clean power, rivaling the output of fossil fuels but with zero carbon.
ABOUT QUAISE
Quaise Energy is terawatt-scale geothermal, opening access to renewable baseload power for the planet. Deep geothermal uses less than 1% of the land and materials of other renewables, making it the only option for a sustainable clean energy transition.
The Quaise approach to deep geothermal is unique in being geography agnostic. Outfitting existing drilling rigs with millimeter wave technology opens the way for power-dense, deep geothermal energy on a global scale. Quaise is accelerating the clean-energy transition by repowering the fossil-fired infrastructure of today with clean geothermal steam.
Quaise Energy spun out of the MIT Plasma Science and Fusion Center in 2018. The company has raised over $95M to date.
Learn more at quaise.energy.
ABOUT PRELUDE VENTURES
Prelude Ventures is a climate-focused venture capital firm that invests in and supports early-stage startups with the greatest potential to mitigate climate change. For over a decade, Prelude has sought out purpose-driven founders and provided the capital and expertise needed to build the next generation of category-defining businesses that will reshape our global economy for the greater good of people and planet. Prelude Ventures is based in San Francisco, learn more at preludeventures.com.
ABOUT SAFAR PARTNERS
Safar Partners is a seed- to growth-stage venture fund investing primarily in technology companies out of MIT, Harvard, and the University of Rochester. Safar takes advantage of the principles of private equity to create value as our companies scale beyond initial prototypes. We accelerate the scaling of our portfolio companies through the formation of spinouts or joint ventures to address additional markets, industries, or geographies. For more information about Safar Partners, visit safar.partners.
ABOUT MITSUBISHI CORPORATION
Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) is a global integrated business enterprise that develops and operates businesses together with its global network of around 1,700 group companies. MC operates across virtually every industry: Environmental Energy, Materials Solution, Mineral Resources, Urban Development & Infrastructure, Mobility, Food Industry, Smart Life Creation, and Power Solution (as of April 2024). Through these 8 Business Groups, MC’s current activities have expanded far beyond its traditional trading operations to include project development, production and manufacturing operations, working in collaboration with our trusted partners around the globe. To learn more, visit mitsubishicorp.com.
ABOUT STANDARD INVESTMENTS
Standard Investments is a fundamentally driven investment platform focused on the intersection of industry and technology. Standard Investments deploys capital flexibly and creatively across the public and private markets, spanning the life cycle of a company, and leverages its deep industrial knowledge and operational experience to create value. To learn more, visit standardinvestments.com.
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