Mithril Minerals is led by a scientist, a marine engineer, and an entrepreneur who have spent their careers building hardware and businesses for the world's most demanding environments.
Dr. Anna Scott is a scientist and entrepreneur who builds technology companies that solve tough resource challenges, from the atmosphere to the ocean floor.
As co-founder and CEO of Mithril Minerals, she's pioneering low-cost robotic systems to collect ocean minerals with minimal environmental impact. Previously, Dr. Scott co-founded Project Canary, an energy data analytics company that became an industry leader in measuring and reducing methane emissions across oil and gas operations. Her work earned recognition as a 2022 ‘Influential Women in Energy’.
Dr. Scott holds a PhD in Earth and Planetary Sciences from Johns Hopkins University, where she also earned her Master of Arts and Sciences in Earth Science. She completed her undergraduate degree in Mathematics at the University of Chicago and a Master's in Applied Mathematics from the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) in Saudi Arabia. She has co-authored over twenty patents.
Riva Gulassa is a marine engineer who has spent the past decade designing, building, and deploying hardware that has touched the deepest reaches of the ocean.
As co-founder and CTO of Mithril Minerals, she is developing a robotic system to collect ocean minerals while minimizing environmental impact. She leads the technical team, hardware development, and testing.
At notable underwater engineering firm Deep Ocean Exploration and Research (DOER), Riva built, tested, and deployed deepwater sampling equipment, ROVs, and cameras. She was the first female deepwater ROV pilot for the University of Hawaii's deepwater ROV Lu'ukai, working at 5,800 meters to explore the deep Pacific, including sampling polymetallic nodules.
Prior to co-founding Mithril, Riva worked at X, The Moonshot Factory, where she built and scaled the AI marine hardware behind Project Tidal, a fish-tracking system named one of TIME's Best Inventions of 2023. She holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from Olin College, where she graduated with a Tri-Collegiate Sustainability Certificate.
James Mertz is an operator, entrepreneur and investor whose career spans offshore components, resource development, and investing.
At Mithril Minerals, James leads commercial strategy. Previously, James led Amphenol Corporation's subsea and downhole division, where he specialized in downhole and subsea technology, building joint ventures and partnerships across the UK, China, Israel, and the US, including standing up a factory for subsea components for global AUV, ROV, and pipeline manufacturing.
He co-founded Townsend Mertz, a real estate equity fund, and founded Mertz Energy, leading oil and gas exploration and development across the Gulf Coast and Williston Basin. Earlier in his career, he held product marketing and engineering roles at Freescale Semiconductor. James holds an MBA with highest distinction from the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business and a degree from the Cockrell School of Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin.