Zanskar Raises $115 Million In Series C Funding Round

Listen to this article

Zanskar, an AI driven geothermal energy company, recently secured $115 million in Series C funding, bringing its total raised to $180 million. The round was led by Spring Lane Capital, with participation from over a dozen investors including repeat backers like Obvious Ventures, Union Square Ventures, and Lowercarbon Capital. Funds are primarily aimed at expanding Zanskar’s AI platform for geothermal discovery, initiating construction on multiple power plants in the Western U.S., and advancing a multi gigawatt project pipeline.

Zanskar, based in Salt Lake City, Utah, focuses on using artificial intelligence to identify and develop overlooked geothermal resources. Founded with the goal of making geothermal a scalable baseload power source, the company employs machine learning models trained on subsurface data, satellite imagery, and historical drilling information to pinpoint hidden systems without obvious surface indicators. This approach challenges traditional geothermal exploration, which has historically been limited to sites with visible signs like hot springs, potentially unlocking terawatt scale opportunities in the U.S. West.

The Series C round, valued at $115 million, represents Zanskar’s largest raise to date and was oversubscribed, reflecting strong investor confidence in AI’s potential to revitalize conventional geothermal. Spring Lane Capital, a firm specializing in sustainable infrastructure, led the investment, signaling a shift toward project level financing. Returning investors such as Obvious Ventures (which led the prior Series B) and Union Square Ventures highlight continuity, while new participants like Munich Re Ventures and StepStone Group add expertise in risk management and infrastructure.

Proceeds will support expanding the AI discovery platform, exploratory drilling, and construction of geothermal plants targeting 100 megawatts online within three to five years. Zanskar plans six 20 megawatt plants to navigate interconnection bottlenecks more efficiently, with data centers as potential early customers for firm, low cost power. The company aims for a levelized cost of energy under $45 per megawatt hour by decade’s end, positioning geothermal competitively against natural gas.

This funding comes amid renewed focus on geothermal under policies favoring domestic energy production, potentially benefiting from incentives for clean baseload power. However, the sector faces debates over conventional versus enhanced geothermal methods, with Zanskar’s successes, like tripling output at a New Mexico plant, suggesting AI could bridge gaps without high risk innovations. Stakeholders note that while promising, scaling requires addressing permitting delays and securing non dilutive capital.

Zanskar, an innovative player in the renewable energy space, has positioned itself at the intersection of artificial intelligence and geothermal power, aiming to transform a historically underutilized resource into a pillar of the modern energy grid. Established in Salt Lake City, Utah, the company was founded on the premise that advanced technologies could uncover vast untapped geothermal potential, particularly in regions like the Western United States where conventional exploration methods have overlooked hidden systems. By leveraging supervised machine learning models trained on extensive datasets (including subsurface geological data, satellite imagery, and insights from past accidental discoveries) Zanskar creates probabilistic maps to identify promising sites with high accuracy. This data driven approach extends to development, where Bayesian evidential learning (BEL) and custom simulators help falsify hypotheses and optimize extraction, addressing data scarcity in geothermal projects.

The company’s recent $115 million Series C funding round, announced in early 2026, marks a significant milestone, elevating its total capital raised to $180 million and underscoring investor enthusiasm for AI enabled clean energy solutions. Led by Spring Lane Capital, a firm focused on hybrid equity investments in sustainable infrastructure, the round attracted a diverse coalition of over a dozen investors. This includes repeat supporters such as Obvious Ventures (leader of the 2024 Series B), Union Square Ventures, and Lowercarbon Capital (co-leaders of the 2022 Series A), alongside newcomers like Munich Re Ventures, which brings reinsurance expertise to mitigate exploration risks; Susquehanna Sustainable Investments for growth stage cleantech; Clearvision Ventures for AI centric sustainability; Orion Industrial Ventures for energy tech; Safar Partners for deep tech; Imperative Ventures for impact driven funds; StepStone Group for private markets; University Growth Fund for emerging ventures; Cross Creek for crossover investments; GVP Climate for climate focused strategies; Tranquillion for specialized energy; Carica Sustainable Investments for ESG alignment; UP.Partners for mobility and energy; and the All Aboard Fund for inclusive capital. The oversubscribed nature of the round, capped to preserve equity, reflects a maturing investor landscape increasingly comfortable with the “missing middle” of climate finance, bridging venture capital with project level debt for capital intensive builds.

To contextualize this raise, Zanskar’s funding trajectory demonstrates rapid progression from early stage validation to commercial scaling. The company’s history includes a $230,000 seed round in 2019, participation in an accelerator in 2020, another seed in 2021, a Series A in July 2022 co-led by Union Square Ventures and Lowercarbon Capital, and a $30 million Series B in May 2024 led by Obvious Ventures with contributions from Munich Re Ventures, Clearvision Ventures, and others. This progression has enabled iterative advancements, with the Series B funding three successful explorations that revived a New Mexico power plant and uncovered over 100 megawatts in new Nevada sites. The Series C builds on these, targeting a pipeline exceeding one gigawatt, with plans to secure over $600 million in additional non dilutive financing for permitting, interconnection, and construction.

This table illustrates Zanskar’s accelerating capital influx, with each round building on technological milestones to de-risk investments.

Recommended: Aspen Power Receives $200 Million Strategic Capital Commitment

Strategically, the funds will propel Zanskar’s three-pillar process: discovery via AI mapping, delivery through advanced drilling, and operation with real time optimization. Specific initiatives include breaking ground on six 20 megawatt plants over the next three to four years, leveraging small generator agreements to expedite grid access in the West. Breakthroughs like the “Big Blind” discovery in Nevada, a system without surface manifestations, and tripling production at Lightning Dock in New Mexico by drilling the most productive pumped well in U.S. history validate this model. These achievements challenge U.S. Department of Energy projections of 60 gigawatts by 2050, with Zanskar estimating overlooked conventional potential could reach one terawatt.

In the broader market, geothermal has lagged, contributing only 4 gigawatts in the U.S. with minimal growth over the past decade, compared to enhanced methods pursued by competitors like Fervo Energy. Zanskar’s focus on conventional resources avoids some risks of enhanced geothermal, potentially accessing cheaper capital sooner. Amid the Trump Administration’s energy policies emphasizing domestic production, geothermal emerges as a beneficiary, offering firm power for data centers and grids strained by electrification. The company projects revenues exceeding $100 million by decade’s end, with costs dropping below $45 per megawatt hour, undercutting fossil fuels.

However, challenges remain, including interconnection bottlenecks, which Zanskar mitigates through modular plant sizing, and the “valley of death” for climate tech, transitioning from VC to project finance. Risks also involve exploration uncertainties, though AI reduces costs to a fraction of traditional methods. CEO Carl Hoiland emphasizes AI’s transformative impact, likening it to drilling advancements in oil and gas, positioning Zanskar to lead a geothermal renaissance. Overall, this funding not only validates Zanskar’s tech but signals a sector-wide shift toward AI optimized renewables, potentially meeting 10-30% of future demand growth with clean, baseload energy.