Copperstone Technologies: The Robotics Startup Solving One of Industry’s Dirtiest Problems

As published in the SV August 2025 Newsletter

Copperstone Technologies is redefining how industries monitor environmental risk in hazardous environments. Based in Canada, the company designs amphibious, all-electric “HELIX” robots to perform remote inspections and data collection in some of the world’s most dangerous and hard-to-access environments: tailings ponds, contaminated sites, ice-covered water, and unstable terrain.

Most mining companies still rely on hazardous manual inspections and heavy equipment to monitor tailings facilities and polluted water bodies. This exposes workers to real danger, limits data quality, and leaves room for catastrophic failures—such as the billion-dollar 2019  Brumadinho dam collapse in Brazil. Copperstone’s robots eliminate the need for human entry, capture high-resolution environmental data, and operate emissions-free, aligning with global mandates on climate, safety, and ESG compliance.

The company has raised $5.8M USD from WindSail Capital Group and Canadian innovation programs to scale manufacturing and roll out its next-gen robot, HELIX Mercury—a heavier-duty platform with deeper instrumentation capabilities.

The company has already received international recognition—including first place at the 2025 Tailings Dam Safety Challenge in Chile—and is now expanding across North and South America.

Copperstone is a startup to watch, with:

• Massive global problem (tailings and water monitoring) with limited safe solutions

• Recurring revenue model through Robotics-as-a-Service

• Strong IP and real-world traction with global mining firms

• Alignment with top-tier investment theses: automation, climate resilience, and industrial decarbonization

• First-mover advantage in a niche but urgent robotics application—one that regulators and insurers are increasingly demanding

  
  

With real tech, real traction, and a growing client base in a risk-averse, regulation-driven market, Copperstone is quietly becoming a category-defining company in industrial environmental robotics.