Big-Name Billionaires Buy KoBold Metals Stock — Can You?

As the world transitions towards EVs (electric cars), automakers, both electric as well as legacy, are worried about one thing. It isn't the demand, but their ability to produce enough electric cars due to the expected shortage of battery-grade metals and minerals. KoBold Metals is a startup working to explore battery-grade metals in Greenland. Does the company have stock and is it publicly traded?

Copper, cobalt, lithium, and nickel are some of the battery-grade metals. There are fears that their supply could fall short of demand by the middle of this decade. There are also concerns about their concentrated supply. While copper mining is concentrated in Latin America, Congo produces the bulk of cobalt globally. As for rare earth minerals, China is the largest supplier, something which the developed world is getting increasingly wary of.

Battery-grade metals are a hot commodity and automakers have been looking at ways to secure supplies. During the earnings call for the second quarter of 2022, Tesla CEO Elon Musk called upon entrepreneurs to invest in lithium refining. Over the last month, Ford and General Motors have announced plans to secure supplies of key battery metals as both companies scale up their EV production.

When we think of Greenland, the first thing that comes to mind is its ice cover. However, thanks to the global climate change, which electric cars intend to reverse, the region’s ice cover has been melting. KoBold Metals is exploring the region for battery-grade metals. The company thinks that the region could have the world’s largest or second-largest cobalt and nickel deposit.

Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are among the billionaires who have invested in KoBold Metals. Both of them have backed multiple companies that can help address climate change. Bezos even backed a hydrogen fuel cell startup, a technology that Musk isn't very bullish on.

Bloomberg founder Michael Bloomberg is also an investor in KoBold Metals. Equinor, which is Norway’s state-controlled energy company, Andreessen Horowitz, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, global mining giant BHP Group, Ray Dalio, and Sam Altman’s Apollo Projects are also among the investors of KoBold Metals.

KoBold Metals raised $192.5 million in its series B funding round. The company uses AI for exploration and has a partnership with BHP. Mining companies are bullish on battery-grade metals and have been looking at organic and inorganic growth in the space.

Apart from nickel and cobalt, Greenland could also have significant deposits of copper, gold, as well as rare earth minerals. KoBold Metals took a 51 percent stake in the Disko-Nuussuaq, which is a project on Greenland’s west coast. Since the company expects to discover significant mining resources in Greenland, it's no wonder billionaires are investing in the company.

KoBold Metals doesn't have stock and isn't publicly traded. Therefore, retail investors can't invest in the company. Only accredited investors in the U.S. can invest in privately-held companies.