Ep 97: Kurt House, Co-Founder & CEO of KoBold Metals

Today's guest is Kurt House, Co-Founder & CEO of KoBold Metals. KoBold Metals is a minerals exploration startup, applying data science to the discovery of deposits of minerals such as cobalt, a key component of EV batteries. Backed by notable VCs, Andreessen Horowitz and Breakthrough Energy Ventures, KoBold Metals’ business is predicated on analyzing troves of geologic data to ascertain the presence of economically-viable concentrations of sought-after ores. With a PhD in Earth & Planetary Science, Kurt founded C12 Energy, which developed enhanced oil recovery projects using CO2 from industrial sources. He has also spent time at Bain & Company as a consultant and at MIT as a research fellow. Concurrent with his role as CEO of KoBold, he is an Adjunct Professor at Stanford. This was a great discussion, which I was able to do in person at Stanford. Kurt has deep knowledge of the science of cobalt and its applications in EV batteries, as well as drilling, in general. Moreover, his company is a great example of the integration of software-oriented Silicon Valley talent with industrial mineral/mining expertise. I hope you find this discussion as thought-provoking as I did. Enjoy the show! You can find me on twitter @jjacobs22 or @mcjpod and email at [email protected], where I encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.