Climate-tech startup CarbonBlue has successfully closed a seed funding round to the tune of $10 million. The fresh funds will enable the company to continue its international growth and implement its innovative water-based Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) technology, which utilizes existing infrastructure for a broad variety of applications.
CDR has seen a rapid proliferation of combined approaches lately, with other technologies like direct air capture seeing prohibitive costs hamper efforts to build new infrastructure for the removal, transportation and storage of CO2. This could make water-based carbon removal one of the most promising niches in the industry.
“The closing of our seed round marks an important chapter in the company’s journey,” said Dr. Dan Deviri, co-founder and CEO at CarbonBlue. “This funding will allow us to expand and deepen our collaborations with major players in the climate, energy, and water sectors, and help us solidify and mature our technology and its various applications. The vote of confidence from leading investors in the industry validates our approach; it shows that our partners and backers believe that climate change is at the heart of any business activity today, and that they see CarbonBlue’s contribution to this global effort as a significant one.”
It has also attracted the attention of one of the most prominent organizations in the CDR space – the Silicon Valley funded advance market commitment Frontier.
“Carbon Blue’s process is a win-win, restoring ocean health while permanently removing CO2, all without the addition of chemicals. Their rate of technological and operational progress has been exciting to watch since Frontier first backed them last year,” says Frauke Kracke, Science Lead at Frontier and Stripe Climate.
Impressive seed round
The company states that its technology is compatible with virtually any type of water systems, be they off- or on-grid, offshore or based on land. Building side by side with partners and close to potential customers seems to be one of the variables that has gained the trust of investors.
With an amount that is usually reserved for later stages of the investment cycle, CarbonBlue has managed to attract a large number of diverse backers from energy, shipping and venture capital along the way.
Ibex Investors and FreshFund led the $10 million round, joined by strategic investors Engie New Ventures, and ZIM Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of ZIM Integrated Shipping Services, and included further investments by existing investors Jibe Ventures, MoreVC and Secret Chord Ventures.
“What sets CarbonBlue apart from other CDR players is their ability to directly support and integrate into mission critical infrastructure projects such as efuels and desalination. The combination of CDR and industry co-benefits is the secret sauce Dan and Iddo, [CarbonBlue’s co-founders], have nailed. Their strategic partnerships and investors are a testament of this unfolding,” added Jonathan Schwartz, investor at Ibex Investors.
3-in-1
The aforementioned versatility of the technology is its unique selling point. CarbonBlue has identified no less than three areas when it comes to the application of its tech: carbon removal, desalination (the company’s pilot facility is on a desalination plant) and last but not least efuels.
Each of the three will without a doubt present its own set of challenges but at the same time presents growth opportunities in industries that are only just beginning to realize the potential of carbon technology and the difference it can make to their bottom line.
“I am excited by the potential for CarbonBlue to not only remove gigatons of CO2 annually but also to do so economically and in a scalable way, supporting broader innovation across key infrastructure verticals,” said Bradley Bloom, CarbonBlue Board Director and co-founder of Berkshire Partners.
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