The Winterthur-based start-up Borobotics AG has been selected by Emissions Reduction Alberta as one of ten companies as part of the ‘Drilling Technology Challenge’. The company, based at Technopark Winterthur, will therefore receive funding of around 2.5 million Swiss francs.
The Winterthur-based start-up Borobotics AG is one of ten companies selected by Emissions Reduction Alberta as part of the ‘Drilling Technology Challenge’. The company, based at Technopark Winterthur, will receive 4.4 million Canadian dollars, equivalent to around 2.5 million Swiss francs. The funding is intended to help the start-up further develop its technology for drilling geothermal probes. The autonomous drilling robot is designed to make drilling processes more efficient, more space-efficient and lower in emissions. In doing so, Borobotics is addressing a key lever for the decarbonisation of the building sector: easier access to near-surface geothermal energy for heat pump systems.
Part of an international innovation network
In total, Emissions Reduction Alberta is investing 37 million Canadian dollars – equivalent to around 21 million Swiss francs – in ten projects with a total value of just under 179 million Canadian dollars, or around 101 million Swiss francs. The selected projects are intended to advance new drilling technologies that reduce emissions, increase efficiency and open up new opportunities in areas such as geothermal energy, critical minerals, oil and gas, and carbon capture.
For Borobotics, this funding represents a significant international milestone. Under the programme, the company is listed as a project site alongside Winterthur and Calgary, making it part of an international innovation network that connects companies from Alberta with technology partners from Switzerland, Norway, the Netherlands and the USA.
Emissions Reduction Alberta’s ‘Drilling Technology Challenge’ supports technologies such as robotic automation, AI-supported energy management, advanced sensor technology, precise drilling navigation, hybrid energy systems and new approaches to geothermal energy. The aim is to make drilling processes safer, more efficient and more climate-friendly.
According to Emissions Reduction Alberta’s estimates, the ten funded projects are expected to save around 24,100 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents annually. Cumulative reductions of around 68,300 tonnes are expected by 2030, and around 308,100 tonnes by 2050. If the technologies are applied more widely, the potential for savings could increase further.
Emissions Reduction Alberta
Emissions Reduction Alberta is an organisation that has been supporting projects aimed at reducing emissions and developing clean technologies since 2009. To date, ERA has invested 1.17 billion Canadian dollars in 352 projects with a total value of over 11.3 billion Canadian dollars. According to ERA, the technologies it supports are expected to reduce emissions by 28.1 million tonnes of CO₂ equivalents by 2030 and by 83.1 million tonnes by 2050.
A strong signal from Technopark Winterthur
The funding awarded to Borobotics demonstrates that innovative technologies from Technopark Winterthur are also attracting international interest. With its autonomous drilling robot, the start-up is positioning itself in a growing market of the future and is helping to make geothermal energy more accessible and climate-friendly heating solutions more widely applicable.
