Concrete has been around for millennia, but Terra CO2 thinks it has a better way to make the ubiquitous building material, and investors appear to agree.
The Golden, Colorado-based startup recently closed a $124.5 million Series B to help bring its low-carbon cement replacement to market.
Cement — the stuff that binds aggregate together to form concrete — weighs heavily on the climate. The CO2 released by the chemical reaction that makes Portland cement, the most common type of cement, and the fossil fuels that typically power it account for around 8% of all carbon pollution.
It’s why a range of startups have been exploring ways to get the same rock-solid results without the pollution. In addition to Terra CO2, Furno, Sublime Systems, Partanna, and PHNX Materials all have different approaches to solving the problem.
SCM is a broad class of materials that serve to replace Portland cement without sacrificing any of the qualities that make concrete appealing. Terra CO2 makes a version of SCM that cooks widely available silicate-containing rocks until they melt into glass. The glassy powders react similarly to Portland cement.
The startup said that it’ll be using the new funding to build a massive facility near Dallas capable of pumping out 240,000 tons of its supplementary cementitious material (SCM) annually.
Terra CO2’s new funding round was co-led by Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Eagle Materials, Temasek-backed GenZero, and Al Gore’s Just Climate. Barclays Climate Ventures, Cemex, Prologis, and Siemens Financial Services participated.
Today, Terra CO2 says that its SCM can replace up to 40% of the Portland cement used in concrete. It is also working on a next generation of its product that can completely displace traditional cement. Compared with Portland cement, the startup’s SCM generates 70% less carbon dioxide.
