Giraffe Bio has secured $6.4 million in a seed funding round. The investment was led by Orion Industrial Ventures, with contributions from BHP Ventures, Twynam, Air Capital, and Baruch Future Ventures.
The startup develops bespoke mineral-specific chemicals designed to increase copper recovery rates in existing mines by up to 5%. The company engineers these compounds using microbes grown in bioreactors.
The technology is applied during the flotation process, where the chemicals facilitate the separation of copper from other materials. The platform can also be adapted to target gold or silver extraction.
Beyond production efficiency, Giraffe Bio aims to replace toxic chemicals used in mining processes with its biomolecules. The company is also developing depressors to manage unwanted compounds like arsenic.
