Cleantech startup Avnos announced today that it has raised $36 million, with proceeds from the Series A funding round to be used to support the company's growth and expansion of its proprietary Direct Air Capture (DAC) carbon removal technology ).
Founded in 2020, California-based Avnos offers a proprietary Hybrid Direct Air Capture (HDAC) solution that uses only air, electricity and solid sorbents to capture water and CO2 from the atmosphere. While most DAC solutions require water and heat to capture carbon, Avnos' technology uses neither water nor heat and produces approximately five tons of water for every ton of carbon dioxide captured, enabling a reduced impact and lower energy costs.
Avnos has been awarded multimillion-dollar projects by the US Department of Energy to demonstrate its HDAC solution in the field, and by the US Office of Naval Research to pilot CO2 capture and e-fuel production.
Proceeds from the new fundraising will be used by the company to grow its team, deploy additional HDAC assets in North America and Europe, and open a research and development facility near New York City.
Will Kain, CEO of Avnos said:
“At Avnos, we believe our new HDAC technology is the world’s best chance at achieving the much-needed gigaton scale of carbon dioxide removal. We feel the urgency to implement HDAC more broadly to take advantage of the enormous and positive climate and economic opportunities that lie ahead.”
The Series A round was led by NextEra Energy Resources and also included participation from investors including Safran Corporate Ventures, Shell Ventures, Envisioning Partners and Rusheen Capital Management. The financing complements Avnos' previously announced capital raises and strategic commercial agreements with Shell Ventures, ConocoPhillips, JetBlue Ventures and the Grantham Foundation.
Rick Clark, vice president of product strategy and solutions at Nextera Energy Resources said:
“NextEra Energy Resources continues to explore new markets that have the potential to utilize large amounts of renewable electricity. We believe that wind and solar energy, together with Avnos technology, could provide a viable option to reduce emissions from difficult-to-decarbonize sectors.”
