BASF Venture Capital, the corporate venturing unit for chemical corporation BASF, is supplying $5m out of a $27m funding round secured by US-based advanced materials company Solidia Technologies yesterday.
Joining BASF in the round are petroleum corporation BP’s corporate venturing fund, BP Ventures, and Bright Capital, the corporate venturing unit for Russia-based business group RU-COM, as well as venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Solidia, which has now raised $37m in capital, is behind a process for manufacturing advanced building materials that are stronger, more durable and more environmentally sound than traditional materials such as concrete. Solidia is looking to build materials that could eventually be not only carbon neutral, but carbon negative.
Pulakesh Mukherjee, principal at BASF Venture Capital, said: "The materials produced by this process will have disruptive potential in the building and construction industry. They have better mechanical properties than traditional concrete and show no shrinkage, high compressive strength and low permeability. The sustainable production process used by Solidia Technologies enables production of fully cured concrete pieces within just a few hours."