Giraffe Bio raises $6.4 million to push biomolecules for copper recovery
The startup is targeting mines that need more copper from existing ore as forecasts point to a 25% supply gap by 2040.
Giraffe Bio says it has raised a $6.4 million seed round to scale mineral-specific biomolecules that can lift copper recovery at existing mines, a pitch aimed at a market facing a possible 25% copper supply shortfall by 2040. The round was led by Orion Industrial Ventures and also included BHP Ventures, Twynam, Air Capital, and Baruch Future Ventures. Instead of relying on live microbes in ore bodies, the company grows engineered microbes in a bioreactor to manufacture compounds that are added into flotation circuits. Giraffe Bio says the same platform can also create depressors and may be adapted beyond copper to gold and silver, while replacing some toxic processing chemicals.
Why it matters
If Giraffe Bio’s approach works at scale, miners could recover more metal from the same ore without waiting for new deposits. That matters because copper demand is moving toward a supply shortfall, and the company says the platform could also reach gold and silver, widening its possible use across metals processing.
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Sources
- TechCrunch