Hephae Energy Technology announced the closing of a $17.8 million Series A funding round to accelerate the commercial deployment of its advanced drilling systems for next-generation geothermal energy development. The round was co-led by Susquehanna Sustainable Investments and Underground Ventures. Participants included alfa8, Baruch Future Ventures, Centaurus Capital LP, Elemental Impact, Exa Ventures, Future Ventures, Grantham Foundation for The Protection of the Environment, New System Ventures, and True North Institute, joining existing investor Nabors Industries.

The new financing brings Hephae’s total capital raised to $24.7 million. The company will use the funding to move from development into commercial scale and support the deployment of drilling technologies designed to expand the frontier of depth, heat, and drilling speed.

Hephae develops ultra-high temperature robotics and drilling systems for geothermal energy. Its proprietary downhole sensing, measurement, communications, and control systems are designed to withstand conditions beyond the temperature limits of conventional oil and gas drilling technology currently used by much of the geothermal industry.

The funding will support commercial deployment of Hephae’s Pandora210 Measurement-While-Drilling system. The system can operate at temperatures up to 210°C, exceeding the commercial benchmark of 175°C for legacy MWD systems.

Hephae will also use the funding to support research and development for next-generation drilling technology capable of exceeding 300°C. The company said these capabilities are important as geothermal developers look to access hotter and deeper resources.

As geothermal activity grows globally, drilling tools that can operate reliably in extreme downhole environments are becoming increasingly important. Hephae said its Pandora210 system can help operators reduce non-productive time and unlock hotter, deeper geothermal resources, which can result in lower produced energy costs.

The company’s technology is designed to enable the precise wellbore placement required for advanced geothermal development. By overcoming the temperature and reliability limits of conventional drilling tools, Hephae aims to expand access to deeper and hotter rock formations that can support firm, sustainable, always-on energy.

The Series A also reflects growing investor interest in geothermal as a scalable clean energy source. By supporting commercial deployment and further R&D, the financing positions Hephae to serve geothermal projects in the U.S. and international markets.

KEY QUOTES:

“Commercial deployment represents a major milestone in our mission to scalable, always-on, emission-free power globally, with a world-class team to tackle this problem. This investment enables Hephae to transition from development to scale, delivering the ultra-high temperature drilling technologies needed to support the rapid growth of the geothermal industry in the US and international markets.”

Steve Krase, Chief Executive Officer of Hephae Energy Technology

“Fervo is encouraged by the early progress of our collaboration with Hephae, whose novel high-temperature innovations have the potential to contribute positively to EGS economics, unlock higher-energy geothermal resources, and further cement the competitiveness of next-generation geothermal power.”

Elliot Howard, Director of Drilling & Completions at Fervo Energy

“The geothermal industry is moving towards hotter temperatures, and Hephae is making sure equipment and tools are keeping up. We are proud to reinvest and support the Hephae team further on this exciting journey.”

Torsten Kolind, Managing Partner at Underground Ventures

“Hephae is solving one of the hardest problems to unlock in geothermal — more reliable drilling for the industry as it stands today, and access to hotter, deeper rock that wasn’t reachable before. Having observed the team’s impressive execution over these last few years, we’re glad to keep supporting them on this next stage.”

Chris Anderson, Founder and Managing Partner at Exa Ventures

“Hephae is expanding what’s possible below the surface, unlocking a new frontier for geothermal. We’re excited to support the team as they remove critical barriers to deployment and help scale the next generation of reliable, clean energy.”

Mitch Rubin, Managing Director, Portfolio & Investments at Elemental Impact