Amazon, Microsoft founders-backed fund tracks CarbonCure

Sources: CarbonCure Technologies Inc., Halifax, Nova Scotia; CP staff

CarbonCure Technologies, the developer and licensor of carbon dioxide-based processes augmenting ready mixed and manufactured-concrete production, has closed an investment round led by a fund whose principals include Amazon.com Inc., Bloomberg LP, LinkedIn, Microsoft Corp. and Virgin Group founders Jeff Bezos, Michael Bloomberg, Reid Hoffman, Bill Gates and Richard Branson. Of nine portfolio investments in $1 billion-plus Breakthrough Energy Ventures fund, CarbonCure is the sole entity directly tied to construction.

“Breakthrough Energy Ventures invests in technology with the potential to eliminate a half gigaton of greenhouse gas emissions per year,” says materials-minded investor and fund spokesman Carmichael Roberts. “CarbonCure represents a triple threat in achieving this goal: compelling economics with a solution that delivers value for customers from day one, products in market today, and a measurable impact on reducing carbon emissions in the built environment.”

“We’ve made it simple and profitable to build resilient structures with lower carbon dioxide emissions. Every tonne of CO2 utilized in concrete production with [our] technology results in a multiplier effect that saves an additional 28 tonnes of CO2 and over $3,100 in production efficiencies,” adds CarbonCure CEO Robert Niven. “This strategic investment allows [us] to scale our impact by expanding into international markets and commercializing new value-added solutions for the concrete industry.”