Ed Barker talks to Alexandra Iljadica, Principal at BHP Ventures, the corporate venture arm of the global mining and minerals company, about what hard-tech and climate investing looks like from inside a major industrial. Alexandra traces her path from a nutrition science degree in Australia through founding and scaling a sustainability nonprofit, then burnout, a year in Croatia, and a 2018 move to Seattle where she helped build the 5G Open Innovation Lab.
She walks through the fund's three-part thesis covering novel energy for BHP's own decarbonisation, mining operations from AI-led exploration to novel extraction and processing, and changing end-market demand around the energy transition; the mandate is follow-on, $3 to $10 million, stage-agnostic, and free to invest in non-core commodities like hydrogen and lithium. The conversation gets into copper substitution and recycling, the resurgence of nuclear and uranium, fusion-grade high-temperature superconducting tape, tailings repurposed into cementitious materials, and the capital-stack squeeze on climate companies trying to get from facility one to facility ten in the wake of Fervo Energy's IPO, where BHP was an early Series B investor.
There are hard-won lessons in CVC deployment and a reflection on Seattle's introverted culture. The episode closes with practical advice for founders: meet strategic investors years before you need them, think carefully about which strategics belong on your cap table and when, and do the basic homework on what each one actually produces.
00:00 Introduction
01:41 Alexandra's Origin Story
05:25 About BHP Ventures
07:33 Critical Minerals and Where BHP Invests
10:59 Inside the Fund
13:58 Lessons from Corporate Venture Investing
23:07 Thesis Building and Looking Ahead
27:50 Nuclear, Copper and the Climate Rollercoaster
29:29 Founders in Mining
32:19 Seattle's Venture Scene
41:30 Advice for Founders
About Your Host
Ed Barker has enjoyed a weird and varied career. Ed is a Brit now resident in Seattle and has founded three startups, enjoyed a long career in corporate strategy, and most recently as a VC. Sound Investments shines a small light on the fantastic work being done in the Pacific Northwest entrepreneurial community.
Studio 1878
Ed is Founder of Studio 1878, a podcast strategy and production studio focused on helping brands tell smarter, more human stories. We work with founders, operators, and marketing leaders to design shows that serve clear strategic goals. Studio 1878 handles the full process - from concept and positioning through recording, editing, and distribution. Our work blends editorial thinking with production craft, prioritizing substance over noise. The result is podcasts that build trust, credibility, and long-term brand value.
Alexandra Iljadica
Alexandra is an Investor at BHP Ventures, the corporate venture arm of the global mining and minerals company BHP, where she invests in industrial decarbonisation, novel mining operations from AI-led exploration to extraction and processing, and the commodities of the energy transition. She joined BHP Ventures four years ago after helping stand up the 5G Open Innovation Lab, the Seattle-based accelerator. Her earlier career was in Australia, where she co-founded Youth Food Movement Australia and spent seven years scaling it into a national community of more than 20,000 young people, serving as CEO. She describes her own career as a series of moves \"upstream\" toward root causes, and is a visible presence in Seattle's climate community.
Connect with Alexandra:
BHP Ventures: bhp.com/about/our-businesses/ventures
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/alexandra-iljadica
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