Gates-Backed KoBold Metals Raises $537 Million in Funding Round

KoBold Metals, a US company backed by Bill Gates, raised $537 million in equity funding to boost exploration of minerals critical to the energy transition.

The funding round valued KoBold at $2.96 billion, the company said in a statement. It was led by new investor Durable Capital Partners LP and a pair of T. Rowe Price funds. Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and the Andreessen Horowitz venture capital firm participated in the financing.

KoBold uses artificial intelligence to find deposits of minerals such as copper, lithium and nickel — metals used in everything from electric car batteries to mobile ...