Borusan Ventures Invests in Atana Elements, Which Uses AI to Discover Critical Mineral Resources

Borusan Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Borusan Group, has participated in the $27.5 million seed funding round of San Francisco-based Atana Elements, a company that uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to discover fluid mineral systems.

Borusan Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Borusan Group, has invested in Atana Elements, a company accelerating critical mineral discovery through artificial intelligence. The $27.5 million seed round, led by Lowercarbon Capital, also included participation from Borusan Ventures alongside Earthshot Ventures, Overture Ventures, Redwoods Climate Capital, Sunna Ventures, Verve Ventures, Volta Energy Technologies, and WovenEarth.

Defne Kocabıyık Narter: “We will be a strategic partner in Atana’s growth journey”

Defne Kocabıyık Narter, Founder and President of Borusan Ventures, commented on the investment: “Critical minerals are among the most strategic inputs for the energy transition and advanced technology industries. By combining deep geological expertise with AI-powered discovery technologies, Atana is leading a significant transformation in this field. At Borusan, we are an active part of the mining ecosystem in five countries through our group company Borusan Cat, and we possess strong industry knowledge as a result. With this experience and our global network, we believe we will be not merely an investor but a value-adding strategic partner in Atana Elements’ growth journey.”

Tom Wilson, Founder and CEO of Atana Elements, stated: “The world needs critical minerals faster, and from safer geographies. Atana Elements’ approach is not purely theoretical; it is a genuine discovery model led by an experienced operations team, powered by cutting-edge technology, that brings together the discipline of oil and gas with artificial intelligence. Through our proprietary methods, we have been able to reach targets in 22 months that would normally take 5 to 10 years.”

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Borusan Ventures invests in early-stage startups in the United States and Europe operating in fields such as energy, mobility, logistics, supply chain, and industrial technologies. Drawing on Borusan Group’s 82 years of industrial experience, Borusan Ventures provides strategic support to startups targeting global success and long-term impact, creating growth opportunities by offering access to new markets.

Atana accelerates critical mineral discovery with artificial intelligence

Over the next decade, demand for critical minerals — particularly lithium — is expected to triple relative to current reserves, with the sector anticipated to attract $250 billion in new investment. As supply chain vulnerabilities and export restrictions drive Western governments to seek alternative sources, Atana Elements is using artificial intelligence to accelerate critical mineral discovery processes.

Atana Elements focuses on the discovery of fluid mineral systems containing critical minerals such as lithium, copper, uranium, hydrogen, and helium. The company’s founding team combines deep technical expertise gained at industry leaders such as BP, Hess, Rio Tinto, and ExxonMobil with geospatial data science and AI-powered analytics, enabling discovery processes that are significantly faster and more cost-effective than traditional methods. The company currently holds rights to sites across the United States and Europe with a combined estimated potential of more than 100 million tons of Lithium Carbonate Equivalent (LCE).

In 2025, Atana Elements discovered a lithium brine resource ranked among the top 10 globally, generating a return on investment of nearly 5x within approximately three years. The company’s key differentiator is its ability to compress mineral discovery processes — which traditionally take 5 to 10 years — to approximately 22 months through its AI platform. This approach is driving the transformation of the sector by making critical mineral discovery faster, more predictable, and more capital-efficient.