Hidden Champion #10 – Hades

Europe wants to become more independent when it comes to critical commodities. Some of these resources lie beneath its own soil, but accessing them is often too costly. That’s why the Munich-based startup Hades is tackling the very challenge where many projects hit a wall: drilling. Using high-power lasers, the company aims to make deep deposits accessible more quickly and at a lower cost.

A known deposit is not yet a viable mine. Whether a project is profitable depends on depth, rock type, and access costs. According to Hades, drilling alone accounts for 50 to 70 percent of the investment costs in many mineral projects. This is precisely where the leverage lies: if these costs decrease, deposits that were previously considered too deep, too small, or too costly to develop could become attractive.

To that end, Hades is developing the Cerberus drilling system. Instead of mechanically grinding rock, it is designed to penetrate the subsurface using high-power fiber lasers. According to the company, the process is expected to reach greater depths more quickly and reduce drilling costs by more than half.
Hades has already tested the technology’s initial components: According to the investor Visionaries Tomorrow, the laser was able to ablate rock, and the system was able to remove drill cuttings from the borehole. The system also successfully transmitted 200 kilowatts of power. However, Cerberus has yet to prove itself in practical use. If it succeeds, the cost estimates for numerous raw material projects would shift fundamentally.
Behind Hades are the founders Max Werner, Björn Dressler, and Dan Gengenbach. According to the company, it has raised 20.5 million euros from European investors to date. The Falling Walls Foundation has also taken notice of the startup: It selected Hades as one of the 25 finalists in its 2026 Venture Competition out of 370 applications. On November 6, the company will present its technology in Berlin.

Hades is pursuing its first raw materials project in Storkwitz. There, the company is investigating a known deposit containing rare earth elements and niobium. The exploration permit granted for this project authorizes exploration. This does not yet imply a decision regarding future production.
Rare earth elements such as neodymium are indispensable for high-performance permanent magnets, for example in electric motors and wind turbines. Niobium is used, among other things, in high-strength steels and superconductors. The commodities in Storkwitz are therefore of strategic importance to European industry.

Cerberus is not tied to any specific commodity. Hades intends to use the system wherever valuable resources lie deep underground, including in deep geothermal energy projects. More cost-effective drilling could help make geothermal energy viable at additional locations. This means the same technology could advance both the raw material supply and energy production.

“Sovereignty begins subsurface”—that is, “Sovereignty begins underground”: This is Hades’ guiding principle. In the long term, the company aims to cover the entire chain from exploration to production. First, however, Cerberus must demonstrate what the technology is actually capable of. Because one thing is certain: Europe’s mineral resources will only contribute to security of supply if we can access them at a reasonable cost.