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Watt It Takes
with Kurt House

Kurt House is the Co-Founder and CEO of KoBold Metals. KoBold uses modern scientific computing to discover the critical materials needed for the energy transition. Emily spoke to Kurt about his journey; from growing up as an athletic nerd in Los Angeles, to his long and winding career through consulting, startups and academia, to his decision to co-found KoBold Metals, a company that employs more than 200 people, has over 60 active exploration projects across four continents, has raised $1B at a valuation of $3B, and in 2024 discovered the largest copper deposit in more than a decade.

 
 
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Sponsored By

 
 
 
 
 
 
Kurt House

Co-Founder and CEO
KoBold Metals
 
 
 

Kurt is the Co-founder and CEO of KoBold Metals, an AI-driven mineral exploration and development firm that combines the expertise of renowned mineral explorers with data scientists and engineers from top Silicon Valley companies. KoBold is dedicated to discovering the critical materials needed for the energy transition; it’s currently exploring 60 properties on four continents for lithium, copper, cobalt, and nickel, as well as developing it’s Mingomba project into a very large new mine. KoBold has also partnered with established firms like BHP and Rio Tinto.

Before KoBold, Kurt founded a carbon sequestration and enhanced oil recovery venture as well as a natural gas asset acquisition platform. Previously, Kurt worked in private equity and corporate consulting at Bain & Company. He has been an Adjunct Professor at Stanford University and was a KAUST Research Fellow at MIT. He received his B.A. in physics from the Claremont Colleges, and his Ph.D. in applied math and earth science from Harvard University.
 
 
 
“In a sense, you always have doubts. I think that's sort of inevitable. Hopeful entrepreneurs will ask me sort of similar questions about when they should dive in and start their own company. And I usually give them a potentially unsatisfying answer of something like- you'll know. And you'll know because your body and your mind will just be telling you.”
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
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