Discovery Drilling
Discovery Drilling Inc. is a veteran-owned Alaska specialty contractor providing geotechnical and environmental drilling, CPT, sonic drilling, and direct imaging services to engineering firms, environmental consultants, and government agencies statewide.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1986
- HeadquartersAnchorage, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Discovery Drilling does
Discovery Drilling Inc. is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business (SDVOSB) headquartered in Anchorage, Alaska, providing geotechnical and environmental drilling services across the full state of Alaska from the North Slope to Southeast Alaska. Founded in 1986 by Kyle Brown as a one-man operation and now employing over 40 professionals, the company offers a vertically integrated suite of subsurface investigation services including geotechnical drilling (soil sampling, SPT, rock coring, hollow stem augers to 100+ ft), environmental drilling (monitoring wells, direct push sampling, remedial chemical injection), downhole instrumentation (piezometers, inclinometers, extensometers), Geoprobe Direct Imaging (OIP/HPT/EC logging), Cone Penetration Testing via the Geoprobe 20CPT Press (the only operator of this system in Alaska), and Sonic Drilling via the Geoprobe 8150LS. Its equipment fleet spans CME-850 rotary drills, Geoprobe 6712DT rigs, and a wide inventory of downhole tooling with redundancy, supplemented by in-house custom fabrication capability for project-specific tooling and remediation systems.
The business operates on a project-based professional services model with no publicly disclosed pricing; revenue is generated through contracted drilling and testing engagements with engineering firms, construction companies, environmental consultants, and government agencies. Customer acquisition is primarily sales-led through direct contact (website quote requests, phone, 24/7 management availability) supported by industry referrals within Alaska's tightly networked geotechnical and environmental consulting community. The company serves as a single-source provider for clients needing multiple subsurface data types, reducing coordination complexity relative to fragmented specialty sub-contractors.
The company is privately held by the Brown family following a 2021 ownership transition from founder Kyle Brown to his son Keeter Brown (President and Owner), with second-generation managers Tyler Ellis (General Manager, 2024) and Losi Vaha'akolo (Operations Manager, 2025) executing internal succession. Discovery Drilling holds no patents, external partnerships, or institutional investment, and relies on its capital-intensive fleet, veteran-led team, and regional specialization as the basis of its competitive position.
Discovery Drilling firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Discovery Drilling
- Legal name
- Discovery Drilling Inc.
- Website
- https://discoverydrilling.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1986
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Discovery Drilling Inc. is a veteran-owned Alaska specialty contractor providing geotechnical and environmental drilling, CPT, sonic drilling, and direct imaging services to engineering firms, environmental consultants, and government agencies statewide.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Discovery Drilling industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Geotechnical and Environmental Drilling Services
- NAICS
- Geophysical Surveying and Mapping Services (541360), Support Activities for Mining (213)
- SIC
- Oil & Gas Field Exploration Services (1382), Oil & Gas Field Services, Nec (1389)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Seismic & Geoscience Services (Acquisition, Processing, Interpretation) (EUALABAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Mineral Exploration & Geoscience Services (Geology, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Resource Modeling) (IMAKAKAA), Exploration & Production Drilling Services (RC, Core, Directional, Sonic, Auger) (IMAKAKAB)
Keywords
Where Discovery Drilling is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Anchorage
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Discovery Drilling business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D
Revenue model
- Geotechnical Drilling Services: Project-based professional drilling services including soil sampling, SPT sampling, rock coring, and borehole advancement. Services provided to engineering firms and construction companies for subsurface investigation.
- Environmental Drilling Services: Environmental soil sampling, groundwater monitoring well installation, well decommissioning, repair, and rehabilitation services. Includes direct push options to minimize investigation-derived waste.
- Instrumentation Installation: Installation services for downhole testing and monitoring equipment including piezometers, extensometers, inclinometers, slope indicators, and other geotechnical/environmental instruments.
- Remedial Chemical Injection: Injection of in-situ remediation chemicals and reagents for environmental contamination treatment projects.
- Direct Imaging Logging: Field interpretation and data collection services using Geoprobe Direct Imaging tools for NAPL delineation, hydraulic profiling, and conductivity logging.
- CPT Testing Services: Cone Penetration Testing services using advanced NOVA CPT cones and 20CPT Press technology, including seismic CPT options for liquefaction risk evaluation.
- Support Services: Ancillary support services including boom truck support, borehole pre-clearance, concrete coring, asphalt cut and repair, site preparation and evaluation.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels1 record
Marketing channels3 records
Discovery Drilling product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Discovery Drilling is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business that provides geotechnical and environmental drilling services throughout Alaska. The company operates its own fleet of drilling platforms, direct push rigs, sonic rigs, and CPT equipment to deliver subsurface soil sampling, groundwater monitoring well installation, downhole instrumentation, direct imaging logging, cone penetration testing, and custom fabrication services for engineering, construction, environmental consulting, and government clients.
Product overview
Discovery Drilling is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business providing geotechnical and environmental drilling services across Alaska. Their portfolio consists of multiple specialized service offerings that work together to deliver comprehensive subsurface investigation solutions. Core drilling services (Geotechnical Drilling, Environmental Drilling) form the foundation, supplemented by advanced diagnostic capabilities (Direct Imaging using Geoprobe OIP/HPT/EC tools, Cone Penetration Testing using the Geoprobe 20CPT Press, and Sonic Drilling using the Geoprobe 8150LS). Instrumentation Installation and Downhole Instrumentation services handle monitoring well and sensor installation. Custom Fabrication provides bespoke tools for project-specific needs, while Support Services and Subcontracted Services offer ancillary operational support. The company operates a fleet of CME-850 rotary drills, Geoprobe 6712DT rigs, and various downhole tooling to serve projects from the North Slope to Southeast Alaska.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Geotechnical Drilling Services
Companies that use Discovery Drilling
Customer profileSegments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Discovery Drilling technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature5 records
Discovery Drilling partnerships and signals
Strategic signalScale indicators5 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Discovery Drilling competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- WSP (formerly Golder Associates): WSP, with Golder's legacy environmental and geotechnical practice, performs subsurface investigation, drilling, and instrumentation installation globally, including cold-region work analogous to Discovery's Alaska focus.
- Boart Longyear: Boart Longyear is a global drilling services and equipment provider with environmental, geotechnical, and exploration drilling capabilities; significantly larger scale than Discovery, but overlapping in core drilling methods and customer segments.
- Tetra Tech: Tetra Tech is a large environmental and engineering services firm with significant in-house geotechnical and environmental drilling/site investigation capabilities, frequently contracting similar Alaska-region projects.
- AECOM: AECOM's environment and infrastructure practices deliver geotechnical site investigation, environmental drilling, and remediation services that overlap directly with Discovery's value proposition, often in federal and infrastructure contexts.
- Arcadis: Arcadis's environmental and remediation practice includes geotechnical drilling and site investigation services for industrial and government clients, comparable to Discovery's environmental drilling and direct imaging offerings.
Direct peers
- Cascade Environmental: Cascade Environmental provides geotechnical and environmental drilling services, including direct push, CPT, sonic drilling, and monitoring well installation, directly overlapping Discovery's core service portfolio for similar engineering and environmental consulting customers.
- Strata Drilling Services: Strata offers geotechnical and environmental drilling, including CPT and direct push, serving engineering and environmental clients with a similar project-based professional services model to Discovery Drilling.
- Haley & Aldrich: Haley & Aldrich is an engineering and environmental consulting firm that performs geotechnical drilling, CPT, and subsurface characterization for similar clients; comparable in technical scope though larger and geographically broader than Discovery.
- Bravo Environmental: Bravo Environmental provides environmental drilling, monitoring well installation, and remediation services with a similar regional contracting model, often serving the same engineering and government clientele as Discovery.
Regional players
- Arctic Foundations Inc. Arctic Foundations is an Alaska-based specialty contractor dealing with permafrost and ground stabilization, frequently engaged alongside geotechnical drilling services for similar infrastructure and cold-region engineering projects.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Discovery Drilling social profiles
Digital presenceDiscovery Drilling financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Discovery Drilling leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles4 records
Discovery Drilling funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Discovery Drilling M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Discovery Drilling
What does Discovery Drilling do?
Discovery Drilling is a Service Disabled Veteran Owned Small Business that provides geotechnical and environmental drilling services throughout Alaska. The company operates its own fleet of drilling platforms, direct push rigs, sonic rigs, and CPT equipment to deliver subsurface soil sampling, groundwater monitoring well installation, downhole instrumentation, direct imaging logging, cone penetration testing, and custom fabrication services for engineering, construction, environmental consulting, and government clients.
Is Discovery Drilling a public or private company?
Discovery Drilling is a private company. It is classified as family owned and is currently operating.
When was Discovery Drilling founded?
Discovery Drilling was founded in 1986. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Discovery Drilling based?
Discovery Drilling is headquartered in Anchorage, United States, in the North America region.
How does Discovery Drilling make money?
Seven revenue lines are on record. Geotechnical Drilling Services are the primary driver. The others are environmental Drilling Services, instrumentation Installation, remedial Chemical Injection, direct Imaging Logging, CPT Testing Services and support Services.
Who are Discovery Drilling's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are WSP (formerly Golder Associates), Boart Longyear, Tetra Tech, AECOM and Arcadis. Direct peers are Cascade Environmental, Strata Drilling Services, Haley & Aldrich and Bravo Environmental. Arctic Foundations Inc. is listed as a regional player.
Does Discovery Drilling have an API?
No public API is recorded for Discovery Drilling.
What industry is Discovery Drilling in?
Discovery Drilling's product category is Geotechnical and Environmental Drilling Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EUALABAK, Seismic & Geoscience Services (Acquisition, Processing, Interpretation), with a secondary code of IMAKAKAA, Mineral Exploration & Geoscience Services (Geology, Geophysics, Geochemistry, Resource Modeling). Its NAICS code is 541360 and its SIC code is 1382.