Sirius, a startup reshaping the metals and mining industry, has raised an oversubscribed €1.2 million pre-seed round from Fund F, BlackWood, WEPA Ventures, Techstars, and select angels. With the fresh capital, Sirius is set to transform the metals and mining industry, bringing new energy to a traditionally ‘unsexy’ sector.
This funding also accelerates the rollout of their AI ‘sustainability twin’, designed to simplify and reduce time spent on sustainability data management by 80%. The metal sector, essential for the green economy, is embracing this significant transformation, driven by increasing stakeholder demand.
Sirius, founded in 2022 by Anastasia Kuskova, Sergey Tyan, and Seva Martynov, is committed to eliminating the challenges that have previously prevented sustainability teams from implementing effective and impactful changes.
Anastasia Kuskova, CEO and co-founder of Sirius, said: “This product grows out of my personal frustration during my tenure as a Sustainability Officer. In the complex industries like metals, mining, and manufacturing, sustainability professionals lack tools that are specifically tailored to us. It’s a huge underserved space, powering the energy transition and desperately yearning for change. So, we decided to be this change, bringing a new wave of cool and effective solutions to our forward-looking clients”.
To support the green economy, metal production needs to increase six-fold, especially for lithium, cobalt, and nickel which power the low carbon economy. At the same time, the industry contributes around 12% of global CO2 emissions and faces environmental, social, and ethical challenges. Lagging in technological advancement, the industry needs solutions like Sirius. The platform enhances sustainability team efficiency, automates data sharing, and offers insights into stakeholder needs, speeding up the sector’s transition to sustainable practices.
Sirius has assembled a stellar team combining expertise in metals, mining, technology, and sustainability, coupled with a track record of developing solutions alongside Tesla and the World Economic Forum.
“We knew from our first interaction that Anastasia and the team are dreaming big. We couldn’t have found a better founder-market fit at this early stage. It was clear that Sirius is an essential- must-have solution to support the transition to a low carbon world,” commented Nina Wöss, Managing Partner, Fund F.
“We are thrilled to invest in Sirius for a second time. The team’s performance during our three-month accelerator program, and its impressive trajectory thereafter, truly stand out. They’ve not only made significant progress but also won global champions as customers. What sets Sirius apart is their deep industry knowledge and their development of a unique, forward-thinking product that fills a significant gap in the market. They are addressing a massive and escalating problem, and we firmly believe that they are the best team with the best product to tackle it. Sirius is not just a company; it’s a game-changer in its field,” added Martin Olczyk, Managing Director of Techstars.
“Being a Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) at an industrial company nowadays comes with great opportunities and, at the same time, an even bigger responsibility. We believe the Sirius team and their state-of-the-art product offering are at the forefront of reshaping how CSOs drive value and enable them to focus on what really matters in today’s transformation towards robust sustainability in all facets of a company. Therefore, we are sure that Sirius will be a key pillar in the sustainability enterprise software stack,” also said Carl-Luis Rieger, Managing Director of WEPA Ventures.
“Sirius echoes our own commitment to innovation with purpose. Anastasia Kuskova and the team at Sirius have not just identified a gap in the sustainability space—they’ve stepped up to fill it with a tailored solution that speaks directly to the core needs of this ‘hard-to-abate’ industry. We are incredibly happy to be a part of it,” added Bastian R. Larsen, CEO of BlackWood Ventures.
