Zanskar Raises $115 Million to Scale AI-Driven Geothermal Energy

Zanskar, a geothermal energy technology company, announced today it has raised $115 million in Series C funding to expand its AI-powered drilling operations and accelerate the deployment of clean baseload power across the Western United States. The round was led by Spring Lane Capital, with participation from Obvious Ventures, Union Square Ventures, Lowercarbon Capital, and more than a dozen additional energy and technology investors.

The funding brings Zanskar’s total equity capital raised to $180 million since its founding in 2019. The company plans to use the proceeds to advance its gigawatt-scale pipeline through one of the largest geothermal exploration and development campaigns in U.S. history, supporting construction on multiple geothermal power plants throughout the Western U.S. that are slated to begin delivering power before 2030.

Geothermal energy harnesses heat from beneath the Earth’s surface to generate electricity without emissions. Unlike solar and wind power, geothermal provides continuous baseload energy regardless of weather conditions. However, traditional geothermal development has been constrained by high drilling costs and the challenge of locating optimal drilling sites.

Zanskar addresses these limitations through proprietary artificial intelligence systems that analyze subsurface geological data to identify drilling locations with the highest probability of accessing productive geothermal resources. The company’s custom-built AI and software tools process multiple datasets including seismic data, temperature gradients, satellite imagery, and historical drilling outcomes to predict where geothermal wells will be most successful.

“We’re applying the same AI techniques that revolutionized oil and gas exploration to unlock geothermal energy at scale,” said Carl Hoiland, co-founder and CEO of Zanskar. “Our technology dramatically reduces the risk and cost of geothermal development, making it economically competitive with fossil fuels.”

Hoiland holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University in geological sciences and was previously an NSF Graduate Research Fellow and an Activate Fellow at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He co-founded Zanskar in 2019 with Joel Edwards, who serves as the company’s chief technology officer and also participated in the Activate Fellowship program.

The founding team identified an opportunity to combine recent advances in AI with proven drilling techniques from the oil and gas industry. Traditional geothermal projects often require multiple exploratory wells before finding productive resources, with each well costing between $5 million and $10 million. By improving the success rate of initial wells, Zanskar can significantly reduce the total capital required to bring geothermal projects online.

Zanskar has established itself as a leader in geothermal discovery, making more greenfield geothermal discoveries in recent years than the industry made over the prior decade combined. The company’s accomplishments include the turnaround of the Lightning Dock asset in New Mexico, which is now described as the most productive pumped geothermal well in the United States, and record-setting discoveries at Pumpernickel and Big Blind in Nevada.

“We are eager to support Zanskar because we believe there is a near infinite demand for firm, clean power around the world right now and geothermal energy is one of the only immediate ways to serve this enormous market,” said Jason Scott, Partner and Entrepreneur in Residence at Spring Lane Capital. “Zanskar has identified more geothermal anomalies in North America than any company in decades.”

The geothermal sector has attracted increased attention from investors and policymakers as demand grows for reliable clean energy. The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act included $84 million in funding for geothermal demonstration projects, while the Inflation Reduction Act extended tax credits for geothermal development.

With the new funding, Zanskar plans to expand its exploration drilling programs and begin building geothermal power plants at sites it has discovered within its portfolio. The company has developed partnerships with utilities and is positioned to serve the growing demand from data centers and other facilities requiring clean baseload power.

“This funding allows us to move from proving our technology works to deploying it at commercial scale,” said Edwards. “We’re focused on delivering gigawatt-scale geothermal capacity over the next five years.”

Geothermal energy currently accounts for less than one percent of U.S. electricity generation, with nearly half of existing capacity dating to the 1980s. Industry projections suggest advanced geothermal technologies could provide up to 90 gigawatts of clean electricity capacity by 2050.

Zanskar’s technology builds on decades of geothermal research and recent improvements in directional drilling, real-time data analytics, and machine learning. The company’s AI systems continuously learn from each new well, improving their predictive accuracy over time and creating a compounding advantage as the company drills more sites.

“Every well we drill makes our AI smarter and our next well more likely to succeed,” said Edwards. “We’re building a flywheel where success breeds more success.”

The Series C funding round included participation from Munich Re Ventures, Susquehanna Sustainable Investments, Clearvision Ventures, Orion Industrial Ventures, Safar Partners, Imperative Ventures, StepStone Group, University Growth Fund, Cross Creek, GVP Climate, Tranquillion, Carica Sustainable Investments, UP.Partners, and the All Aboard Fund.

Zanskar’s expansion comes as corporate demand for clean baseload power accelerates, driven by rapid growth of data centers and AI applications. Tech companies have committed to operating on carbon-free energy around the clock, creating demand for reliable clean power.

“The AI boom is creating unprecedented demand for clean baseload power,” Hoiland said. “Geothermal is uniquely positioned to meet that need because it provides consistent output without requiring battery storage or fossil fuel backup.”