California-based climate technology company CarbonCapture announced today that it has raised $80 million, with proceeds to be used for the development and deployment of the company's Direct Air Capture (DAC) carbon removal systems.
DAC technology, listed by the IEA as a key carbon removal option in the transition to a net-zero energy system, extracts CO2 directly from the atmosphere for use as a feedstock or permanently removed when combined with storage. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's (IPCC) landmark 2022 climate change mitigation study, scenarios that limit warming to 1.5°C include carbon dioxide removal methods that could reach billions of tons. of removal annually over the next several decades, with CAD positioned to potentially be responsible for a significant portion of the total.
Founded in 2019, CarbonCapture produces DAC machines that use solid sorbents to efficiently absorb CO2 from the atmosphere, and the company utilizes a modular, upgradeable capture system that allows for the switching of next-generation sorbents as they become available, enabling reductions in costs over time without the need to build entire new facilities. CarbonCapture is currently developing “Project Bison,” a new DAC project in Wyoming in partnership with carbon storage developer Frontier Carbon Solutions. The project is expected to be developed in multiple phases until 2030, reaching 5 million tons of annual capture and storage capacity.
The company signed $26 million in carbon removal credits, with purchase agreements last year to remove more than 55,000 tons of carbon dioxide announced with companies including Microsoft, Boston Consulting Group and Amazon.
New strategic investors joining the Series A funding included Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, Aramco Ventures and Siemens Financial Services. CarbonCapture said the funding will support technology development and field the first installations of the company's modular DAC systems.
Adrian Corless, CEO of CarbonCapture said:
“To achieve our ambitious mission to decarbonize the atmosphere, it is imperative that we bring together the capabilities of the global industrial community. That's why I'm so excited to welcome our new strategic investors: Amazon's unparalleled logistics and supply chain capabilities, Aramco Ventures' world-class capabilities, and Siemens' digital transformation and energy transition expertise. will be instrumental in helping us scale DAC in the coming years.”
The funding was led by Prime Movers Lab, with participating investors also including Idealab X, Marc Benioff's TIME Ventures, Neotribe Ventures, Alumni Ventures and several other venture investors.
Zia Huque, general partner at Prime Movers Lab and board member at CarbonCapture said:
“CarbonCapture has made substantial technical and commercial progress since our initial investment in the company, signing purchase agreements with some of the world's biggest brands. Prime Movers Lab has done due diligence on numerous carbon capture companies and we believe Adrian and his team will be the ones to decarbonize our atmosphere at scale and emerge as one of the most important innovative scientific companies.”
