Mariana Minerals, a US-based software-first minerals company, has raised $310M in Series B funding led by Khosla Ventures. The firm builds, owns, and operates autonomy-first mines and refineries supplying critical minerals like copper and lithium for energy, AI, and defense. The capital will accelerate its 10-projects-in-10-years strategy across US sites.
Critical Minerals Demand Fuels Autonomy Push
The timing comes amid surging demand for domestic supply chains. KoBold Metals raised $1.22B total including a $537M Series C in January 2025, while Earth AI secured $32.1M total in March 2025. Mariana's approach — building its own MarianaOS autonomy platform and operating physical assets end-to-end — addresses the gap between exploration-only startups and traditional miners.
Workforce Shortage and Supply Deficit Collide
The US faces a structural crisis: 40% of mining engineers retiring this decade with fewer than 400 graduates annually. Western mining productivity has declined for two decades. Global critical minerals demand requires 500+ new mines in the next 10 years, yet permitting and execution timelines average 12-25 years. Current solutions fall short because legacy operators lack software talent and incentive to overhaul operations.
Autonomy Platform Integrates Full Value Chain
Mariana Minerals developed MarianaOS — comprising MineOS, PlantOS, and CapitalProjectOS — to orchestrate autonomous drilling, haulage, refining, and project delivery under one system. It partners with Boston Dynamics Spot robots, Sandvik autonomous drills, Celona private 5G, and Pronto haulage to create closed-loop optimization. Unlike competitors that sell tools to miners or focus solely on discovery, Mariana owns and operates the assets, generating proprietary data that compounds with each project.
As CEO Turner Caldwell noted:
"The big Western mining companies look exactly like Ford and GM before Tesla. They look a lot like NASA before SpaceX."
Khosla Leads Strategic Investor Syndicate
Khosla Ventures led the round at a $1.5B valuation, with continued participation from Andreessen Horowitz and Breakthrough Energy Ventures plus new investors including BHP Ventures, Mitsubishi Corporation, and In-Q-Tel. The syndicate blends climate tech, enterprise software, strategic mining, and national security capital, validating Mariana's thesis that software-first execution can compress decades-long timelines.
$410B Market Expands Amid Geopolitical Pressure
The global critical minerals market stands at $409.7B in 2025 and is projected to reach $799B by 2035. VerAI Discoveries raised $39.4M total in February 2025. Structural drivers include US policy expanding the Critical Minerals List to 60 minerals, lithium demand rising 353% by 2040, and AI in mining growing from $41.1B to $1,384B by 2035.
Ex-Tesla Founder Applies Software Discipline
Founder and CEO Turner Caldwell spent nine years at Tesla in factory design and construction. This background informs Mariana's vertical integration and speed-focused culture, distinguishing it from traditional mining incumbents and pure-play AI explorers.
Scaling to Ten Projects in Ten Years
With Copper One already producing refined copper cathode and Lithium One targeting 2027 commercial output, Mariana is hiring across 65 open roles while executing its 10-projects-in-10-years roadmap. The company plans to restart additional idled assets and expand autonomy deployments.