Back in 2018 we covered how Open Mineral (OM), a startup aiming to leverage greater transparency in commodities trading, had raised $2.25 million. Well, they’ve come a long way, and now the Zug, Switzerland-based, company has raised a $33 million Series C funding round led by Mubadala Investment Company. Existing investors Xploration Capital and Emerald Technology Ventures were joined by new investors Statkraft and Lingfeng Capital.
The company says it will use the capital to solidify its physical supply chain merchant activities. The commodities trading market is worth $200 billion and even today there’s still a lot of paper flying around, so digitization is continuing apace.
Open Mineral says its platform has registered more than 900 metals and mining companies across the world, using its pricing algorithms across the commodity supply chain.
As well as digitizing aspects of the industry, OM says it’s also working with third-party providers to incorporate “green” ESG metrics across the sell-side and buy-side.
It also claims to have developed automated blending/smelter material optimization solutions “enabling more efficient, informed, and profitable trade of physical metal raw commodities.” These have an impact on transitioning to a lower carbon footprint, says the company.
Boris Eykher, CEO and co-founder of Open Mineral, said in a statement: “The metal trading industry’s future is in digital data and analytics, enabling market participants to communicate faster and make quicker, and more data-driven decisions. Just as eBay revolutionized retail purchasing by bringing more choices to buyers and sellers, we aim to do the same for physical commodity producers in a curated, trusted environment of the Open Mineral platform.”
Faris Al Mazrui, head of Russia and CIS Investments at Mubadala, said: “Open Mineral is disrupting the commodity trading business by leveraging data analytics technology. Buyers and sellers of base metal commodities can tap into a unique and proprietary data hub to trade more efficiently and capture upside.”