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Apr 2024The company's mineral processing team was spun out into Viridian Biometals; Impossible Metals retained a minority holding.
SourceUnderwater robotic vehicles that collect battery metals responsibly
Company research
Public company, workplace, funding, and market signals
Updated Jul 29, 2026
Overview
Impossible Metals is a YC W22 public benefit corporation building AI-driven autonomous underwater robotic systems to selectively harvest polymetallic nodules from the seabed with low habitat disturbance.
Primary product
Eureka Collection System (AI-driven autonomous underwater robotic collection platform)
Founded
2020
Headquarters
2400 S. Cimarron Rd, Las Vegas, NV 89117, USA
Team size
20-30 employees
Work style
Flexible
Industry
Climate Technology Product Manufacturing
Sub-industry
Deep-sea mining robotics / marine robotics / critical minerals
Offices
Collingwood, ON, Canada
Pasadena, CA, USA
Las Vegas, NV, USA
Business model
B2B partnerships with seabed exploration license holders
offtake-driven critical minerals supply agreements
third-party processing/refining partnerships
future exploration-license development and commercial mining operations
Funding
People & investors
Leadership
Chief Executive Officer
Steve Curnutte
Executive Chairman
Chief Growth Officer
Chief Development Officer
Chief Commercial Officer
Chief Operating Officer / Chief Technology Officer / Co-Founder
Chief Science Officer / Co-Founder
Chairperson / Non-Executive Director
Founders
Founder / former CEO
Investors
Aureolis Ventures
CapitalX
Chalet.vc
Climate Collective
Futureland Ventures
Gaingels
Justin Hamilton
Liquid 2 Ventures
MicroVentures
New Venture Order
Newgen Venture
Noveus Capital
Palrecha Capital
Pareta Ventures
Park Capital
Quiet Ventures
Rebel Fund
Simon Segars
Sir Robin Saxby
Soma Capital Fund
Starlight Ventures
Tango.vc
Warren East
Y Combinator
Zillionize
Work & culture
Mission-driven and sustainability-focused, with a builder culture centered on engineers, scientists, and entrepreneurs. Public materials emphasize fast-moving execution, ownership, flexibility, and a 'planet comes first' ethos.
Work style
Flexible
Compensation
Public recruiting materials advertise meaningful equity and competitive startup salary, but no public salary bands were found.
Benefits
Meaningful early-stage equity
Competitive startup salary based on experience
21 days paid time off plus public holidays
Health insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
401(k) with 1% company match
Free monthly lunch and learn
Wellness program
Charitable programs
Product & market
Pricing
Not publicly disclosed; appears to be a B2B partnership/offtake model with negotiated project and supply contracts.
Differentiators
- —Selective harvesting instead of dredging or blasting
- —AI/computer vision to identify and avoid marine life
- —Robotic arms that pick individual nodules
- —AUVs that hover above the seafloor to reduce sediment disturbance
- —Untethered fleet architecture with fewer single points of failure
- —Lower CAPEX/OPEX versus dredging-based systems
Technology
Eureka Collection System
Eureka I / Eureka II / Eureka III autonomous underwater vehicles
AI-powered computer vision for selective nodule harvesting
robotic arms / pick-and-place manipulators
buoyancy engine / neutral buoyancy control
Smart Launch and Recovery System (SLARS) / Smart Hook
autonomous deep-water navigation and retrieval
techno-economic modeling and environmental monitoring
Customers
Cathode manufacturers
Battery manufacturers
Automotive manufacturers
Seabed exploration license holders / contractors
Offtake counterparties for critical minerals
Competitors
The Metals Company
DEME/GSR
Allseas
Royal IHC
land-based nickel, cobalt, copper, and manganese miners
Scale & contact
Estimated revenue
USD 1M–10M
Estimated monthly visits
7.7K
Traffic estimate as of Apr 2025
Signals & risks
Other
May 2026Founder Oliver Gunasekara transitioned out of the CEO role when Granger Whitelaw was appointed CEO.
SourceLatest news
Robotics Business News · Jul 2026
The company announced a Pittsburgh hub for roboticists, autonomy engineers, and marine systems specialists, with plans to create more than a dozen engineering and science jobs.
Official blog / GlobeNewswire source repost · Jul 2026
Impossible Metals announced a non-binding MOU with Deep Sea Minerals Corp. to evaluate autonomous robotic nodule collection technology in prospective exploration areas, including test mining, environmental monitoring, pilot production planning, and downstream supply-chain options.
Business Wire · May 2026
The company named Granger Whitelaw CEO, with founder Oliver Gunasekara transitioning out of the CEO role as the business enters its next phase.
Reuters · Sep 2025
Reuters reported Bahrain sponsored Impossible Metals' permit application to the International Seabed Authority for part of the Clarion-Clipperton Zone.
Reuters · Apr 2025
Reuters reported the company requested a leasing process for exploration and potential mining of critical minerals in U.S. federal waters off American Samoa.
Jobs and careers at Impossible Metals
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