Lithosquare Raises $25M to Speed Up Critical Mineral Discovery

Jan de Vries · 2026-05-05

Lithosquare, a Paris-based startup that uses Geology AI and geologist-led intelligence to speed up the discovery of transition-critical minerals, just raised $25 million in fresh funding. The round was co-led by World Fund and Kindred Capital, with participation from Daphni, Omnes Capital, and Ovni Capital. The company plans to use this cash to accelerate the discovery and development of critical metal deposits at a time when existing supply chains can't keep up with global demand. ### The Problem: A Broken Exploration Process "We spent years working in mineral exploration and watched the same bottleneck slow every project: too much time processing data, not enough time on actual geology and fieldwork," said Aymeric Preveral-Etcheverry, co-founder and CEO of Lithosquare. "Lithosquare turbocharges geologists and exploration teams by bringing together deep geological science and AI to fundamentally rethink how mineral deposits are discovered, accelerate exploration, and support the energy transition at scale." Founded in 2024 by mining engineer Aymeric Preveral-Etcheverry, with Simon Leclair joining as founding COO shortly after, Lithosquare radically accelerates mineral exploration by combining foundational AI, geological expertise, and real-world data. The company helps exploration teams generate more targets, discover deposits faster, and increase certainty about where to drill. ### The Supply Gap: A $350 Billion Problem According to the company, by 2040, the supply gap for critical metals like copper, lithium, and nickel could hit $350 billion. Lithium demand, vital for EV batteries and grid storage, is expected to increase by over 400%, while copper demand is expected to grow by about 50%, fueled by electrification, AI data centers, and grid infrastructure. Recycling alone can't meet this demand, so more than 1,000 new mineral deposits must be discovered. Mineral exploration today is still slow, highly manual, and has low success rates. It usually takes 7 to 15 years to go from initial exploration to discovering a deposit, with geologists dedicating up to 80% of their time to data processing and analysis. That's a lot of wasted time. ### How Lithosquare Changes the Game Lithosquare's platform automates and accelerates exploration workflows by combining foundational AI with science-based geological models of the subsurface. Unlike existing AI tools that apply pattern-recognition models to geological data, this platform leverages a deep understanding of metal deposit formation. This means more accurate targeting and better decision-making about where to develop deposits. The company claims to reduce analysis timelines from months to days, increasing exploration and discovery efficiency by up to 10 times. The platform is designed to work alongside geologists, not replace them. It augments their work so teams can focus on geological interpretation and discovery. This improves targeting precision, reduces unnecessary drilling and associated emissions, and enables faster development of new mineral supply. ### Why This Matters for the West Lithosquare positions itself as a prime example of European-origin technology that contributes to long-term Western resilience. It reduces dependence on a few actors, including China, which controls about 50% of rare earths extraction. That's a big deal when you think about supply chain security. Dr. Nadine Geiser, Principal at World Fund, said, "The energy transition depends on faster and more efficient discovery of critical raw materials. Lithosquare is not solving a niche geology problem: it's removing a supply constraint that affects every sector of the economy, from EV manufacturing to AI data centers. Aymeric and Simon are building the critical discovery infrastructure that the energy transition depends on, and we backed them to do it at scale." ### What's Next for Lithosquare The company plans to use this funding to grow its expert team, support continued platform development, and expand globally. The founders are already working with mining companies across the US, Europe, and Africa. With the demand for critical minerals skyrocketing, Lithosquare's approach could be exactly what the industry needs to close the supply gap and power the energy transition.