Hades Mining, a startup specializing in next-generation drilling systems, announced the completion of a €5.5 million pre-seed financing round. The round was led by Project A and also included Visionaries Tomorrow, Founders Factory, and a number of strategic angel investors. The individuals include Florian Seibel (Quantum Systems), Roman Hölzl (RobCo), Daniel Wiegand (formerly Lilium), Moritz von der Linden, Hélène Huby (The Exploration Company), and Nicolas Burkardt (Marvel Fusion). The Viessmann Generations Group also participated.
Founders Max Werner (CEO), Björn Dressler (CTO), and Dan Gengenbach (SVP Material Displacement) bring extensive experience in deep tech, aerospace, and laser physics. Together, they are developing a vertically integrated model that encompasses the entire process from licensing and drilling to production management. The startup generates revenue not from meters drilled, but directly from the energy, heat, and minerals extracted.
Thong Le Hoang, Partner at Visionaries Tomorrow, explains:
"One of the biggest challenges in applied deep tech is operating in extreme environments under real-world time, cost, and quality constraints. In the energy and minerals sector, this means economically accessing super-deep deposits—a problem that remains unsolved despite decades of incremental improvements. Hades is pushing the boundaries with a groundbreaking system engineered for unprecedented speed, scalability, and precision. By taking a systems approach that focuses not only on isolated lab results but also targets the industry's true bottlenecks, the team is turning deep tech into a strategic advantage, unlocking one of the most significant economic and impact opportunities of our time."
Focus on energy and critical raw materials
Europe's energy and raw material demand is growing – driven by AI, electrification, and the relocation of industrial production. At the same time, Europe imports energy and critical raw materials. This dependence is to be Hades Mining reduce through your own projects.
The technology developed by Hades enables access to ultra-deep thermal storage and the use of in-situ extraction (ISR), which extracts minerals from deep rock layers using fluid circulation. This technique is considered environmentally friendly because it does not require open-pit mining.
The angel investors Florian Seibel, Moritz von der Linden, Roman Hölzl and Daniel Wiegand emphasize:
"As founders building Europe's next generation of energy, robotics, and defense systems, we know one thing: without access to critical minerals and sovereign energy, none of this can be scaled indefinitely. Hades Mining is literally addressing the problem at its root. It's a bold industrial bet to secure the raw materials our society needs to continue to grow. That's why we've invested."
With the fresh funding, Hades Mining plans to further develop its drilling technology and explore initial sites for energy and raw materials projects in Europe. The goal is to strengthen security of supply, the energy transition, and industrial resilience in Europe in the long term.
