Carbon Clean, a UK-based carbon capture technology developer, raised $150m in series C funding yesterday led by oil and gas producer Chevron to help decarbonise heavy industry.
Chevron Technology Ventures confirmed to Global Corporate Venturing that it participated in the round through its Future Energy Fund II, with additional participation from an unnamed business unit of Chevron.
Through what is being billed as the largest-ever funding round for a point source carbon capture – which captures emissions directly from the source, such as industrial sites or refineries – Carbon Clean is aiming to achieve gigatonne-scale carbon capture capacity around the world by the mid-2030s.
Carbon Clean’s chief executive, Aniruddha Sharma, said that the proceeds will be put toward scaling the production of its modular carbon capture technology to achieve cost savings. The company currently provides technology to several industries including cement, steel, refineries, biogas and energy-from-waste.
It is the latest carbon capture investment for Chevron, whose portfolio also includes direct air capture technology producer Carbon Engineering and carbon mineralisation technology developer Blue Planet Systems.
Other energy majors like BP have also invested in carbon capture or carbon separation companies like C-Capture, whose $11.3m round BP Ventures backed last year along with power producer Drax Power, technology commercialisation firm IP Group and British Business Bank’s Future Fund.
The global carbon capture, utilisation and storage market is projected to reach $7bn by 2030, up from $1.9bn in 2020, according to Allied Market Research.
“We are at the forefront of sector innovation, delivering products that can genuinely change the world,” said Sharma.
“Today’s funding round is testament to the confidence of industry and global investors in our technology and its importance to reach net-zero goals. Making carbon capture technology accessible for hard-to-abate sectors is a huge opportunity.”
A host of corporates took part in Carbon Clean’s series C round, including cement producer Cemex, conglomerate Marubeni, insurance provider Axa, electronics manufacturer Samsung, gas producer TC Energy and oil and gas company Saudi Aramco, alongside Wave Equity Partners.
Cemex, Axa, Samsung and Saudi Aramco participated through their subsidiaries: Cemex Ventures, Axa IM Alts, Samsung Ventures and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures.
Energy major Equinor’s corporate venturing subsidiary, Equinor Ventures, invested alongside Icos Capital in the company’s initial $22m series B tranche in mid-2020, which was followed by an $8m extension in August last year from Equinor Ventures, Cemex Ventures, Icos Capital and Wave Equity Partners.
Chevron had previously invested as part of a $16m round in February 2020 along with Marubeni and Wave Equity Partners.
Carbon Clean said that it reached multiple milestones over the past year, including reaching 1.5 million metric tonnes of carbon captured, striking partnerships with major industrial companies like Cemex, Chevron and water and waste management company Veolia, and launching the smallest industrial modular capture system in the world, CycloneCC.
Photo courtesy of Carbon Clean
