HOUSTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–#drilling—GA Drilling, a technology company making deep geothermal drilling commercially viable has secured a $44.1 million investment to enter full-scale commercial deployment of its NexTitan downhole anchoring and drive system.
The funding consists of $24.7 million in fresh capital and $19.4 million converted from a SAFE investment raised last year. The round is led by TomEnterprise, the investment platform founded by Thomas von Koch, former CEO of EQT, with participation from Underground Ventures. In addition, one of the world’s largest drilling contractors with a global rig fleet, participates as both investor and strategic industrial partner, providing immediate commercial reach across oil & gas operations worldwide.
At the Threshold of Commercial Deployment
In late February 2026, GA Drilling completed a successful field deployment of NexTitan at the NORCE Research facility in Norway, delivering a validated output of 32,000 lbf under real downhole conditions, confirming that NexTitan can drive a drill bit deeper and through formations that have historically made deep drilling uneconomical. This translates directly into wells that geothermal developers could not previously justify on cost, and meaningful reductions in non-productive time for oil and gas operators on complex wells. With that validation now behind them, GA Drilling is advancing on two fronts: active development work with a key deepwater offshore operator, and first commercial drilling engagements with prospective customers.
“This investment gives us the capital and momentum to accelerate commercial deployment at scale,” said Tony Branch, CEO of GA Drilling. “NexTitan is designed to significantly reduce drilling costs, and these funds allow us to prove that with real-world customer data across multiple geographies. Our priority is execution – demonstrating field performance is what earns trust in this industry, and that is exactly what 2026 is about.”
Energy Security in a Volatile World: Why Domestic Geothermal Cannot Wait
Recent escalation in the Middle East, including disruptions to tanker traffic through the Strait of Hormuz, is once again exposing the fragility of global oil and gas supply chains. Geothermal energy is structurally immune to these dynamics, produced locally from heat beneath the earth’s surface, with no exposure to shipping lanes, export restrictions, or foreign policy risk.
The barrier to unlocking that capacity has been drilling cost. NexTitan directly addresses that constraint, making the wells that enable geothermal energy faster, cheaper, and safer to drill.
Key Deepwater Offshore Operator Partnership: First Commercial Engagement with a Global Operator
According to the IEA, more than three-quarters of the investment required for next-generation geothermal overlaps directly with oil and gas – the same equipment, the same engineering disciplines, the same supply chain. GA Drilling is built on that foundation. In 2024, the company established a formal development and validation partnership with a key deepwater offshore operator – one of the world’s largest and most technically demanding energy companies. This is an active collaboration to validate NexTitan in the most demanding operational environments in the industry – positioning GA Drilling as a credible supplier to Tier-1 global operators and confirming that the technology performs where it matters most.
A Rare Large-Scale Investment in European Industrial Hard-Tech
At $44.1 million, this round ranks among the largest European funding rounds of 2025 in hardware and industrial technology. This is an exceptional result in an environment where most large rounds have focused on software or AI. The IEA projects geothermal could supply up to 15% of global electricity demand by 2050, up from less than 1% today; NexTitan is purpose-built to remove the drilling cost barrier standing between that resource and the grid.
“Reaching this point required relentless testing, multiple pivots, and the conviction that deep geothermal would become a priority market before the world was ready for it,” said Igor Kocis, Founder of GA Drilling. “This investment validates both the technology and the timing. The energy security conversation happening right now is exactly the context in which NexTitan becomes strategically essential.”
2026: The Year of Field Performance
2026 is the year NexTitan moves from validated technology to operating asset. Drilling campaigns are already being planned with geothermal developers and oil & gas operators across key markets, and early movers will shape how this technology gets deployed at scale. NexTitan is platform-agnostic and designed to integrate with any developer’s rig and workflow. If you are looking to drill deeper, faster, and at lower cost, GA Drilling is open for business: www.gadrilling.com
About GA Drilling
GA Drilling is a global technology company making deep geothermal energy economically viable at scale through NexTitan, the world’s first downhole anchoring and drive system designed for deep, ultra-deep, and ultra-long-reach drilling. With offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Brazil, and Slovakia, GA Drilling deploys proven oil & gas experience to unlock the next generation of clean, locally sourced energy.
Contacts
Michal Novovesky
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