Quaise Energy announced the initial close of its Series B financing, raising $134 million. The round was led by Prelude Ventures, with strategic investments from JERA and Idemitsu, two of Japan’s largest energy companies. Nearly all existing investors, including Safar Partners, also participated in the round. The Series B brings Quaise Energy’s total funding raised to date to $230 million, with additional equity and debt capital expected to close soon.
Quaise plans to use the proceeds to fund Project Obsidian, which the company says will be the world’s first commercial superhot geothermal power plant. The funding will also support continued development and commercialization of the company’s millimeter-wave drilling system toward depths greater than 5 kilometers.
Quaise is also raising project-level equity and debt financing as it moves toward first revenues backed by undisclosed commercial offtake partners. The broader capital program is expected to support the company’s transition from field-proven technology to commercial deployment.
Quaise’s millimeter-wave drilling system was developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The technology is designed to ablate rock at depths and temperatures that are not economically accessible through conventional drilling.
With this system, Quaise aims to reach rock temperatures of 300°C to 500°C in many locations worldwide. The company believes this could enable geothermal systems with power density comparable to fossil and nuclear energy and costs comparable to renewables.
Quaise has demonstrated its millimeter-wave drilling system at its Central Texas field site. In 2025, the company drilled more than 100 meters through granite, which it said marked the first time the technology penetrated basement rock at full scale in field conditions.
The company is now approaching one kilometer of depth at the same site. Quaise said this would represent the deepest penetration achieved with millimeter wave drilling and the deepest recorded by any non-contact drilling technology.
These results validate the core technology that Quaise plans to deploy at Project Obsidian and other future sites. The company said its approach could dramatically expand the geothermal development map by enabling access to superhot rock in many more regions.
Project Obsidian is currently under construction on federal geothermal leases in the Deschutes National Forest in Oregon. The site is one of the most studied geothermal locations in the U.S. and has gigawatt-scale potential.
The project is expected to deliver the first electrons to the grid by 2030. Its power is expected to support grid stability across the Pacific Northwest as the region faces rising electricity demand and constrained transmission capacity.
Quaise Energy is both a technology developer and a project developer focused on utility-scale superhot geothermal energy. The company’s mission is to make superhot geothermal a backbone of the modern energy system by delivering clean, reliable, baseload power at scale.
KEY QUOTES:
“Our ambition is to power civilization with Earth’s most compelling energy source. This round takes us from field-proven technology to first commercial revenues.”
Carlos Araque, CEO and President of Quaise Energy
“We have backed Quaise since the beginning because we believed accessing superhot rock would unlock geothermal energy at a scale the world has never seen. What the team has achieved in the field and what they are now building at Project Obsidian validates that conviction, and we are proud to continue supporting Quaise as they move from proving the technology to powering the grid with clean, reliable energy nearly anywhere on Earth.”
Mark Cupta, Managing Director at Prelude Ventures
“Quaise’s millimeter wave technology has the potential to redefine what geothermal can deliver — accessing heat at depths and temperatures that were previously out of reach. This investment reflects Idemitsu’s commitment to next-generation energy solutions that can contribute to stable, sustainable power supply at scale.”
Kei Honda, Executive Leader, San Jose Office and Senior Vice President, Head of Corporate Venturing at Idemitsu Americas Holdings Corporation
“As a global energy company, JERA understands both the scale of the challenge ahead and the scale of the opportunity that next-generation geothermal represents. Millimeter wave drilling technology has the potential to make geothermal a truly global baseload resource. We look forward to working together with Quaise to advance the development of this promising technology and business.”
Takeshi Kodama, Head of JERA Ventures and Managing Partner at JERA
“We are proud to be a partner and supporter of Quaise Energy. As the need for power grows exponentially around the world, Safar believes geothermal energy has a critical role to play, and Quaise is uniquely positioned to revolutionize the industry. By reimagining the drilling process entirely and leveraging millimeter wave technology to reach previously inaccessible depths and temperatures, Quaise is unlocking superhot geothermal energy at a global scale. We’ve been working alongside the team since the beginning, and this round represents an important inflection point as the company transitions from scientific breakthroughs to commercial deployments.”
Parinaz Motamedy, Partner at Safar Partners
