Terra CO2 secures US$125m for SCM funding

Terra CO₂, a tech startup, from Golden Colorado has closed a US$124.5m round of Series B funding. Several organisations led the funding round, including Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Al Gore's Just Climate, Eagle Materials, and Temasek-backed GenZero. Other participants were Barclays Climate Ventures, Cemex, Prologis, and Siemens Financial Services.

Terra CO₂ wants to replace Portland cement with OPUS SCM (supplementary cementitious material), a high-performance cement extender. To make OPUS SCM, the company uses widely available silicate-based raw materials, which are naturally abundant. The raw materials go into the company's proprietary, patent-protected, low-carbon and low-nitrogen oxide reactor. It herts the materials until they vitrify into a glass-like powder. This powder can be used to make concrete, instead of using Portland cement.

The company plans to use the new funding to create a substantial facility in Dallas,Texas.This plant would be able to process 240,000tpa of SCM year, curb pollution caused by cement production, reports the Cooldown.

However, the SCM market is competitive. In addition to Terra CO₂, Furno, Sublime Systems, Partanna and PHNX Materials have launched OPC replacement solutions.

Steven Poulter, head of Barclays Climate Ventures, noted, "Terra's technology offers a combination of commercial readiness and cost competitiveness.” 

Terra CEO, Bill Yearsley, added: "Terra's mandate is to deliver cementitious material solutions that the market would purchase solely based on cost and performance, even if there was no carbon benefit. The fact that Terra's cementitious materials also offer significant carbon mitigation is an additional advantage for the built environment."