Measuring The Elemental Composition Of The Earth … From The Sky
Founders Factory Startup Bulletin #63
It’s a cold dawn in the Nevada desert town of Winnemucca as Alexander ‘Al’ Strange pulls the handbrake on his 4x4. A pale sun hits the tops of a few stucco buildings.
Equally cold is the realisation that every moment over the last few months, every setback and fumble, every breakthrough on their airborne Neutron Activation Analysis system converges on this point. And there is one more setback waiting. When the team unpacks the equipment, they discover a key component of the payload is damaged from their journey to the remote town.
The hotel room becomes a workshop and they’re quietly grateful they thought to bring a 3D printer.
In this month’s bulletin we talk to Voluna’s Al Strange on the mining tech startup’s journey and how they measure the elemental composition of the ground from the air by firing neutrons into the earth and reading the gamma rays that come back.
Also in the Bulletin:
Programme openings
Meet the latest cohorts
Factory activity in June
Terra AI raise $20m Series A
The Clinical Coding Conundrum for Hospitals
Watergenics’ Dr. Liviu Mantescu on Measuring What Others Can’t
Investing in Telgea
Job openings
Measuring The Elemental Composition Of The Earth… From The Sky
Mineral exploration has changed remarkably little in the era of digital transformation. Where industries from logistics to financial services have been reshaped by real-time data, mining exploration has remained dependent on geochemical sampling, bottlenecked by manual labour and slow assay-lab turnaround times that together offer only a sparse view of the deposit. The cost of that uncertainty in failed drills, wasted capital and missed deposits runs into billions across the industry each year.
Voluna’s platform attacks that bottleneck directly. Rather than being subject to the status quo, its NAA system reads the geochemical signature of the subsurface in the field — delivering the kind of direct elemental data that exploration teams have never previously been able to access without ground disturbance and a boots-on-the-ground footprint.
The idea was straightforward. Getting there, less so.
An airborne platform had always been the goal. But before it could fly, the underlying physics had to be proven on the ground. In October 2025, Voluna deployed its alpha ground prototype, codenamed Gammine, for the first time in a live exploration environment — a proof of concept for the core neutron activation analysis technology.
“We came away accomplished but humbled,” Al says. “Deployment is where things get real. Equipment breaks, and terrain and conditions are always underestimated.”
Programme Openings
CMA CGM Startup Awards 2026
Looking for startups with traction in smart transport, AI operations, next-gen media or the future of work. Winners get funded commercial deployment, 12 months in the ZEBOX programme, and direct access to CMA CGM decision-makers.
🕒 Deadline: 7 August | 👉 Apply here
Nature Tech Accelerator Cohort 5
Applications are open for our fifth Nature Tech cohort, run from Perth with the Government of Western Australia. A four-month programme backing early-stage startups across water quality, biodiversity restoration, ocean resilience, agriculture and nature-positive finance.
🕒 Deadline: 10 July 👉 Apply here
Rio Tinto Mining Tech Accelerator Cohort 5
Applications are open for breakthrough technologies tackling mining’s biggest challenges across exploration, operations and safety. For founders building at the edge of industrial tech shaping the future of mining.
🕒 Deadline: 10 July | 👉 Apply here
SLINGSHOT 2026
Applications are open for Singapore’s premier deep tech competition, now in its 10th edition, taking place at SWITCH (27–29 Oct). Categories: Advanced Computing, Industrial Systems, Digital Security, Sustainability, Health & Biomedical. Top 50 Global Startups win a sponsored trip to pitch live in Singapore, with S$2M+ in grant prizes on offer.
🕒 Deadline: 30 June | 👉 Apply here
New Cohorts
MSWA Multiple Sclerosis & Neurological Care Accelerator Inaugural Cohort
Five ventures building the future of neurological care, delivered with MSWA and featured in the Wall Street Journal for connecting cutting-edge healthcare technology directly to the people who need it most.
Welcome: upLYFT, NeuroSonic, Fluent, Clarity, ReVimo
New Future Industries Partnership Cohort
A philanthropic programme with HSBC and Third Derivative scaling industrial climate solutions across Southeast Asia, India and the Middle East.
Welcome: Airform, BANIQL, beyond captur, Bhumi, CarbonStrong, Climitra Carbon, Conry Tech, CURA, Electrogenos, GREE Energy, Mitti Labs, Nanoweave, Neutreeno, Ossus Biorenewables, PRISTINZ, Varaha, Widuz
CODE Tech Founders Accelerator Cohort 4
Launched with Imperial College London and the MCIT Center of Digital Entrepreneurship, connecting MENA’s top entrepreneurs with the UK and European startup ecosystem.
Welcome: Qanoniah, moneymoon, SDM, Dal, jozo جزء, siolla | سيولا, TABsense, Grinta Hub, EVA, Talento | تالنتو, Limeless, Gig SA, Cashin, Resilience, Entropy Minds, Sport LOOP, Twinn Health, Mazoom, Wepay, Ojrah
Factory Activity in June
Money 20/20 — 2nd June
Sector Director Olly Betts hosted a panel at Money20/20 Amsterdam on Term Sheet Truths: What VCs Are Betting on Now, with Northzone, Experian Ventures and Thomson Reuters Ventures.
London Tech Week — 8th-10th June
Founder Brent Hoberman discussed London’s position as a global tech hub with Mayor Sir Sadiq Khan, Baroness Martha Lane Fox and Secretary of State Peter Kyle MP. Portfolio company Pyri took the Ignition Stage on wildfire resilience, while Chief People Officer Farah Kanji joined the WEALTH panel on Generosity, Power and Boundaries in Leadership.
London Climate Action Week — 20th-28th June
Head of Investments Olivia Brooks was at Kanaloa House to discuss maritime decarbonisation and joined Ocean Summit, HSBC and Earthshot Prize sessions. Deep Tech Investor Jack Kennedy attended JP Morgan’s critical minerals event, COO Damian Routley joined Node and HSBC on bridging the missing middle, and our team joined Beyond Pilots, part of our Future Industries Partnership with HSBC and Third Derivative.
Milan Demo Day — 26th June
Founders Factory hosted a breakfast and demo day with our Milan portfolio, a private showcase for corporate leaders exploring the frontier of applied AI, fintech and enterprise tech.
Terra AI raises a $20M Series A
Led by Khosla Ventures with strategic investment from BHP Ventures, and continued support from Rio Tinto, the investment goes towards the mining industry’s first AI-native subsurface modelling platform – giving mining, geothermal and carbon storage teams a fundamentally better way to understand what lies underground.
Terra AI maps uncertainty, producing continuous 3D resource models that tell teams where resources are, where confidence is high and where risk remains.
The Clinical Coding Conundrum
For families and carers, when a patient is discharged from hospital that’s where the hospital’s role ends. Relief for patients and carers, knowing that things are improving or can be managed from home.
This isn’t the case for the hospital. In Germany, when a patient is discharged, a trained specialist reads 20–50 pages of clinical documentation and manually translates every diagnosis and procedure into standardised codes. These codes determine how much the hospital gets paid. Laborious, unscalable work.
As part of our Healthcare Venture Studio - we explore the open founder opportunity in Clinical Coding Revenue Intelligence.
Watergenics’ Dr. Liviu Mantescu on Measuring What Others Can’t
Despite being the rails on which innovation has taken place, the industries of metal recovery, desalination and petroleum extraction have not been so ahead of the curve. Until recently they relied on chemical intuition rather than accurate, real-time process measurement.
Read how Watergenics enables industrial process optimisation in conditions where no previous technology has been able to operate reliably.
Investing in Telgea
We’re excited to announce our investment in Telgea, in partnership with Vodafone + Fastweb – a platform enabling enterprises to manage mobile connectivity across borders under one agreement, one portal, and one bill.
Job Openings
🛠️ Founder & CEO: MeisterMatch - AI-Native Recruiter for Skilled Trades (Germany/Hybrid)
With Vonovia we’re building MeisterMatch to solve Germany’s skilled trades labour shortage using conversational AI: a Candidate Agent onboarding tradespeople via WhatsApp/voice (no CV) and an Employer Agent delivering qualified shortlists in 48 hours, mapping 130+ crafts and international qualifications to German standards. Backed by €760k combined cash + studio support, 355 live roles from Vonovia as instant demand, and a tested acquisition motion, seeking a German-fluent founder with HR-tech/marketplace instincts and a clear vision for engaging non-desk workers.
👉 Apply here
🛠️ Co-Founder: Hospital Discharge Readiness Engine (Berlin, German Speaking)
Co-found a new venture tackling one of the most structurally expensive inefficiencies in European healthcare — delayed hospital discharge, which costs OECD health systems an estimated $120 billion per year and left 75% of German hospitals in deficit at the end of 2024. You will build a live discharge readiness dashboard that maps every task on the critical path, auto-drafts discharge letters, sends one-click GP notifications and pushes pharmacy pre-alerts — turning reactive discharge into planned, same-day execution. Germany’s KHVVG reform creates a funded procurement window right now, with 1,893 hospitals and no dominant workflow vendor. German fluency essential.
👉 Apply here
🛠️ Venture Builder: 6 Month Contract (Berlin, German Speaking) A hands-on studio role for an experienced operator who wants to work at the coalface of venture building in Germany. You will work directly with early-stage founding teams across Founders Factory’s Berlin portfolio, helping validate concepts, build product, and establish commercial traction from day one. German fluency is essential.
👉 Apply here