Entrepreneurs? Build in Minerals
The fate of the Western world is on your shoulders. No pressure.
Yesterday, I had the chance to speak to members of a deep-tech ideation program Epsilon ε's and tried to convince them rebuilding Western mineral infrastructure is really on their shoulders. No pressure.
👋 Welcome to A World Reconfigured - your guide to a world changed by climate, geopolitics and technology. I write about how climate change is creating a new world with new rules, and often cover topics like the ❄️Arctic, 🤷♂️Rare Earths and 💻Data Centers.
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Most of my talk was pretty standard.
I opened with explaining the importance of Critical Minerals (it's in the name, after all) and Rare Earth Elements. I spoke about what you'd usually talk about in a CMs/REEs conversation:
👉 China's 40+ years advantage in infrastructure and unique know-how
👉 The West's wakeup call since October 2025
👉 The flurry of frameworks, bilateral deals and private sector activity
I try to talk to anyone who would listen about the importance of industrial rebuild for Western countries. I try to cover in my weekly newsletter how climate change, infrastructure and geopolitics intersect. I try to track how the West is trying to rebuild mineral infrastructure. I sometimes write about innovation as well:
This conversation felt different. I was standing in front of bright people eager to build something from scratch, and there’s a chance they can tilt the scales. They can be the ones building the next generation of mineral infrastructure that the world needs.
Let’s start with the uncomfortable truth: Building startups in the minerals space is a herculean, nearly-quixotic task. It is an uphill battle and the odds are against them. It's still early days, and like in any other traditional industry, it won't be easy to secure capital, build and deliver.
But there are also plenty of good news:
There's so much to do. There’s so much to solve with tech that it nearly doesn't matter what you choose to build. From exploration to separation to refining to recycling, we need lots of emerging tech if we hope to make minerals great again.
There is also so much momentum today. It’s early days, but my guess is that after October 2025, the West is not going back. Sure, there are still geopolitical risks and there are always twists and turns, but as I said to one of the participants - fundamentally, the West is not going to forgoe rebuilding infrastructure. The question is - can we do so within a reasonable time frame and without paying prices we probably do not want to pay (like environmental degradation)
There is too much at stake and such a market awakening that it is almost hard to imagine: From new projects to new frameworks, the private and public sectors are both working hard to secure funding, infra and capacity.
This will, in all likelihood, trickle down to the venture capital space an will provide more entrepreneurs with the opportunities and the resources to build. I’d like to think they should feel the urgency of the matter.
I cut my professional teech in the tech and open innovation world.
I saw up close how hard it is to build, scale and implement new technologies. But I saw up close the power of technology to uplift companies, industries and entire societies. I saw the how emerging technologies moved from an idea or a dream to being life-changing, scaled innovations that charted a path towards prosperity. There is no reason that Minerals cannot enjoy the same destiny.
Innovation is the gamechanger. Rebuilding mineral infrastructure in the West is not only the job of Geologists, financiers and operators. It is also a job for entrepreneurs, venture capitalists and dreamers.
At the end of the day, the story of minerals is the story of our modern lives. We have to innovate and build our way if we want to continue to prosper and grow as a society.
Given the size and importance of the challenge, there’s no reason why more entrepreneurs shouldn’t join the fight.
I hope I managed to convince at least one person in the room to go into minerals.
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