Endurance Energy secures $54 million to develop ocean-based geothermal power
Series A round led by Founders Fund will fund plans for underwater power plants aimed at coastal cities and heavy industry, tapping into an estimated 6 terawatts of untapped capacity.
Endurance Energy, a startup founded by former SpaceX engineer Andrew Redd, has raised $54 million in a Series A funding round led by Founders Fund. The capital will support the development of plans for underwater geothermal power plants designed to harness energy from the ocean floor. The investment also includes participation from 72 Ventures, Construct Capital, Felisis Ventures, First Round Capital, Riot Ventures, and Voyager Ventures.
Redd, who previously worked as an engineer on the Dragon and Starship programmes at SpaceX, established the company last year with a focus on first-principles renewable energy solutions. The team has grown to 21 employees, 11 of whom are former SpaceX staff. The company’s vice president of engineering previously worked at Helion Energy, a fusion startup. The funding comes at a time of surging energy demand from artificial intelligence data centres, electric vehicles, and heavy industry.
The company is targeting the Pacific Ring of Fire, a geologically active zone where tectonic plates spread apart, allowing magma to flow closer to the surface. Redd estimates there is approximately 6 terawatts of developable geothermal potential in the region over the next five to 10 years. To put this in perspective, global average energy consumption is approximately 20 terawatts at any given moment. The aim is to provide baseload renewable energy for coastal cities and heavy industry.
Unlike current geothermal startups such as Fervo Energy, XGS Energy, and Sage Geosystems, which drill thousands of feet into the Earth’s crust on land, Endurance Energy proposes operating underwater. Redd argues that viable onshore sites in places like Iceland or California have largely been claimed or are located far from population centres. The company cites the oil and gas industry’s decades of experience with underwater drilling as a precedent for overcoming technical hurdles related to pressure and corrosion.
Endurance Energy plans to use an optimization algorithm to balance submarine cable costs against resource scale and onshore market size. The company intends to avoid sensitive habitats, such as those near hydrothermal vents. Redd notes that any potential leakage would involve hot water, which is already naturally present in the ocean in terawatts. The company is currently developing its operational plans for these underwater facilities.
