Digital Catapult has announced a £400,000 investment in DeepTech startup Optimal Slope, a mining technology company on a mission to transform open-pit mining into a more efficient and environmentally sustainable industry.

The investment will enable the startup to secure more partnerships with global mining companies, as it looks to scale its solution, decarbonise mining operations and equip the sector to be future ready through the application of its deep tech solution.

Founded in 2021, Optimal Slope developed the world’s first software platform to automate, optimise, and digitalise the design of mine pit walls, which are the stepped rock faces that form the sides of an open-pit mine, and is a process that traditionally relies upon manual
trial-and-error by engineers.

By intelligently minimising the excavation of waste rock, Optimal Slope’s solution reduces costs, increases mine profitability, and significantly cuts the carbon footprint of mining operations, which is critical to decarbonising the sector and driving industrial supply chain resilience.