UK-based construction company Laing O’Rourke has joined a £1.6m ($3m) seed round for Novacem, a carbon-negative cement company.
A series A round is expected by mid-2011, Novacem said.
Alongside Laing were the Royal Society Enterprise Fund, a quasi-corporate venturing fund, university spin-out fund Imperial Innovations and the state-backed London Technology Fund.
The Royal Society Enterprise Fund first invested in Novacem as part of a funding round in August 2009 as the cement maker led a £1.5m Technology Strategy Board project to develop its technology alongside industrial partners Rio Tinto Minerals, Laing O’Rourke and WSP Group. Novacem has also sold £1.5m in bonds to France-based company Lafarge.