GA Drilling is an experienced deep tech scale-up coming out of Bratislava, Slovakia, that focuses on solving the cost of drilling for geothermal energy. Nearing commercialisation after well over a decade in development, the company’s advanced technologies may usher in a new era in energy – one where it’s significantly easier to tap into the clean energy coursing under our very feet. 

We recently caught up with Igor Kocis, CEO and Co-founder of GA Drilling, to learn more about the company, their journey to get to where they are today, as well as GA Drilling’s participation in the EIC Scaling Club, where they’re a member of the Renewable Energies market group.
 

Energy is everywhere

“Energy is everywhere under our feet. In volcanic areas, it’s easier to reach because you don’t have to dig as deep. But no matter where you are, if you can dig deep enough, you can tap into the Earth’s geothermal energy,” explains Igor. 

The problem is that digging deep is expensive. It can cost 10s of millions of upfront investment before you can generate your first megawatt, and you’re never entirely sure how deep you actually have to go. 

“At GA Drilling, we’re targeting decreasing the cost to 20-30% of today’s cost. That would be the holy grail for geothermal energy – it would unlock clean energy all over the world.”

The company is currently manufacturing the product, after successful tests of previous prototypes, and expects it to be ready in the near future, with commercial operation beginning next year. 

A growing team powered by a strong core

Igor is the CEO and Co-founder of the company, and as such has been carrying much of the weight of building the company and the technology. 

“Currently, what’s great is that we’re expanding our leadership team with people who have decades of experience in the drilling business and commercialisation of drilling tools.” 

That frees Igor up to focus on mostly front-facing activities, such as fundraising, business development, and communication. 

He’s joined by three other active co-founders: Dusan Kocis (COO), Ivan Kocis (Chief Scientist), and Tomas Kristofic (CTO). Igor emphasises that this well-balanced division of roles has been crucial to their progress, enabling a seamless transition from the initial technology development to the current commercialisation phase. As the company further enters the market, they continue to strategically add new talent to their team, bringing in diverse experiences and expertise to successfully deliver their products to customers.

From challenges to breakthroughs

GA Drilling is nearing the commercial phase, but it has been a long time coming. The company was founded in 2008, and Igor says a decade was spent on developing the technology. The biggest challenge? Finding the right drilling solution to be integrated into their system – something they finally managed to achieve in 2023. 

Of course, building the technology was also a long and winding process, says Igor. “High pressures, high temperatures – technologies and physical phenomena are behaving differently in these deep wells, and that complicates technology development.”

Finding the right funding proved to be another major hurdle because the project and development are very expensive. Igor cites over 100 million raised across different sources, mostly equity. 

Overcoming these challenges has been a major achievement. 

“Now, the proximity to commercial success is making the team very excited and focused on the results.”

Other highlights for Igor include the first public presentation of their product to the drilling industry and a 3-year commercial partnership with Petrobras that will help them reduce the cost of drilling, among other partnerships and milestones. 

EIC Scaling Club – a way to reach the right circles

GA Drilling was in the first cohort that joined the EIC Scaling Club in March 2024. For Igor, joining wasn’t about taking the company to the next stage, as they’re a fairly mature project with a clear roadmap. 

“For us, visibility was most important. To gain it both among customers and investors. Geothermal has become a hot topic and funds are trying to understand it better. And the EIC Scaling Club is a great channel to meet and connect with more and bigger groups of investors.”

To conclude, Igor also adds that energy sovereignty in Europe has quickly become of paramount importance and although their projects are currently mostly overseas, they’re looking forward to contributing to Europe's energy independence.

About the EIC Scaling Club

The EIC Scaling Club is a curated community where 120+ European deep tech scale-ups with the potential to build world-class businesses and solve major global challenges come together with investors, corporate innovators and other industry stakeholders to spur growth.

The top 120+ European deep tech companies will be carefully selected from a pool of high-growth scale-ups that have benefitted from EIC financial schemes, other European and national innovation programmes, and beyond.

The EIC Scaling Club is an EIC-funded initiative run in partnership by Tech Tour, Bpifrance (EuroQuity), Hello Tomorrow, Tech.eu (Webrazzi), EurA and IESE Business School.

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