Capitalize on surging electrification and data center demand by investing in critical transition metals like lithium and copper through vertically integrated developers such as Mariana Minerals. Target the booming artificial intelligence and remote power boom by securing exposure to next-generation energy infrastructure innovators like Radiant, which is mass-producing portable 1-megawatt nuclear micro-reactors. Look toward the expanding defense-tech and maritime security sector by tracking private pioneers like Ulysses, which is scaling affordable autonomous underwater and surface vehicles for critical subsea cable protection. Position your portfolio in hardware-focused automation and clean energy developers that are modernizing traditionally slow, legacy industries like mining and defense. Focus on accumulating these high-conviction infrastructure and critical mineral plays during cyclical market troughs to maximize long-term gains over the next three to five years.

Ulysses (Private Company)

• Building autonomous surface vehicles and autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) designed to be cheap enough to deploy at scale.
• Operates in three main verticals: conservation and nature (mapping coral reefs, collecting seeds), commercial (inspecting offshore wind platforms, subsea cables, and undersea infrastructure), and defense (US Navy applications such as finding/removing mines and protecting ports and harbors).
• Addressing the deficit of ocean companies compared to space and land robotics by building a full-stack platform from sensors to surface to subsea.

Takeaways

• Positioned at the intersection of defense technology and ocean infrastructure, addressing critical vulnerabilities in subsea cables and maritime security.
• Scalability depends on manufacturing affordable autonomous systems to compete with traditional, multimillion-dollar military and commercial equipment.

Mariana Minerals (Private Company)

• Raised $85 million in funding to operate as a vertically integrated, software-first minerals project developer and operator.
• Focuses on the back end of the minerals value chain, including detailed engineering, permitting, building, commissioning, and operating assets.
• Utilizes software platforms like Capital Project OS (leveraging Large Language Models for construction workflows) and PlantOS (using reinforcement learning to optimize chemical processing and refining) to reduce latency and improve metal recovery rates.
• Actively focusing on lithium and copper as key commodities due to long-term macro demand trends.

Takeaways

• Targets the massive, tech-untapped mining sector by attempting to bypass the traditional "death spiral" of selling fragmented SaaS point solutions to risk-averse legacy operators.
• Emphasizes building infrastructure during the troughs of commodity cycles, specifically focusing on critical minerals required for electrification, data centers, and defense.

Radiant (Private Company)

• Founded by a former SpaceX engineer, aiming to mass-produce portable, trailer-sized nuclear micro-reactors.
• Targets off-grid power solutions, providing a 1-megawatt reactor designed to be delivered on a trailer and operational within 48 hours, lasting five years (equivalent to a full oil tanker of diesel).
• Permitted as the first of the new wave of nuclear micro-reactors to go to full power, targeting production off an 80-acre site in Tennessee with a goal of one reactor per week off the production line.
• Competes primarily against high-cost diesel generation in remote regions (such as areas where diesel costs $6.50+ per gallon), islands, and northern climates, rather than large-scale centralized grid plants.

Takeaways

• Represents a hardware-focused approach to energy infrastructure, scaling nuclear production like aerospace manufacturing rather than relying on traditional, multi-year bespoke civil engineering projects.
• Faces industry-wide headwinds including the lack of a centralized nuclear waste repository and competitive fuel enrichment markets, though micro-reactors handle waste storage locally in dry casks.