Claude Letourneau, President and CEO of Svante. (Svante photo)
Svante of Vancouver, BC, has closed a $ 75 million financing round. The company calls it “the world’s largest private investment in carbon capture from point sources to date”.
Since launching in 2007, the Canadian company has developed technology that enables industrial carbon emissions to be captured where they are released – such as facilities responsible for cement production, blue hydrogen production and natural gas boilers.
“Lowering the cost of capital for capturing the carbon emitted in industrial production is critical to the global net-zero carbon targets needed to stabilize the climate,” said Claude Letourneau, CEO and President of Svante, in a statement.
Industrial processes, including the manufacture of cement, steel and plastic, contribute around 20 to 30% of greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, depending on the calculation. Svante’s technology can be applied to existing infrastructures. The captured carbon can be stored in a closed loop or used for industrial processes.
The new investment will help fund a variety of initiatives over the next three years, including efforts to build commercial-scale carbon capture facilities, according to the company.
Last year, Svante announced a partnership with Switzerland-based direct air capture company Climeworks, one of the companies supported by the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund. Climeworks removes carbon from the general atmosphere while Svante targets more concentrated carbon sources.
Svante has raised a total of $ 150 million in venture capital. The just completed Series D round was led by Temasek and included Chart Industries, Carbon Direct and Export Development Canada. Existing investors such as OGCI Climate Investments, BDC Cleantech Practice, Chevron Technology Ventures, the Roda Group and Chrysalix Venture Capital also took part in the round.