Climate Investment continues to back Svante, a new unicorn, in latest funding round
18 January 2023
- OGCI Climate Investment (CI) participated in recent $318 million funding round for breakthrough carbon capture and removal technology provider, Svante
- The funding round, largest for a point source carbon capture technology provider, values Svante over $1 billion, making it CI’s second portfolio company with unicorn status
- CI initially invested in Svante in 2018, with additional investments in every following round
LONDON, 19 Jan 2023 – OGCI Climate Investment (CI), a specialist investor focused on capital- efficient decarbonization solutions, has made an additional investment in Svante, the developer of modular, scalable carbon capture and removal technology based on unique solid adsorbents. The investment formed part of Svante’s Series E fundraising round, which values the company over $1 billion, giving it unicorn status.
CI initially invested in Svante in 2018, with additional investments in every following round alongside new and existing investors. The latest funding round, led by existing shareholder Chevron, raised $318 million, making it the largest capital raise for a point source carbon capture technology provider.
Svante makes filters and rotary contactor machines that capture and remove carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas, from industrial emissions and the air. The proven technology, available today, has the potential to significantly reduce the cost of carbon capture plant ownership, making it a promising solution for commercial scale industrial carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) projects across industries.
“Low-cost carbon capture is a critical element for global CCUS ambitions, and Svante is a great example of a working, transformational technology with proven financial potential which delivers material impact,” Marc van den Berg, Managing Director, Ventures at CI said. “Svante has become our second portfolio company to achieve unicorn status – proof of the key role a connected and involved investor like CI can play.”
Svante’s latest funding round will support its commercial-scale filter manufacturing facility in Vancouver, BC, Canada, which is anticipated to produce enough filter modules to capture millions of tonnes of CO2 per year across hundreds of large-scale carbon capture and storage facilities.
‘’We are thrilled to be working alongside one of our earliest investors towards a solution that will contribute to a low carbon future,” said Claude Letourneau, President and CEO of Svante Inc., who’s participating in the World Economic Forum in Davos this week. ‘’CI’s support has been pivotal in enabling us to demonstrate this technology in the field, which is an important step in advancing the technology toward commercialization’’.
Svante’s other Series E participants included existing shareholders Temasek, Delek US, and Hesta AG, as well as new investors, 3M Ventures (the venture capital arm of 3M Company), Full Circle Capital, GE Vernova, Japan Energy Fund, Liberty Media, M&G Catalyst, Samsung Ventures, TechEnergy Ventures, and United Airlines Ventures.
About OGCI Climate Investment
OGCI Climate Investment was formed by the Oil & Gas Climate Initiative, established by 12 oil & gas majors that account for around 30% of global operated production. OGCI aims to lead the industry’s response to climate change through action and independently managed investments.
Climate Investment is an independently managed investor focused on capital-efficient decarbonization solutions. The firm seeks to accelerate GHG reduction at scale by working closely with OGCI members, governments, customers and co-investors to maximize the global implementation of low-carbon solutions and impact. CI provides capital across the business lifecycle from the catalytic phase of technology and commercial validation through to scaling our investments’ sector and geographic coverage. It has invested in 29 technologies and projects since 2017.
Among its investment activities, CI manages its $1bn+ Catalyst Fund I, and it is an investor in China Climate Investment. Both funds invest in solutions to decarbonize GHG-intensive sectors within energy, industry, built environments/buildings and transportation, that have historically attracted low capital investment for decarbonization. Climate Investment targets solutions that deliver near-term GHG impact in three areas: reducing methane, reducing carbon dioxide emissions and recycling or storing carbon dioxide.
About Svante
Founded in 2007, Svante offers companies in emission-intensive industries a commercially viable way to capture large-scale CO2 emissions from existing infrastructure, either for safe storage underground or to be used for further industrial use in a closed loop. With the ability to capture CO2 from industrial sources and directly from the atmosphere in an environmentally sustainable way, Svante makes industrial-scale carbon capture and carbon removal a reality. Svante is on the prestigious 2023 Global Cleantech 100 list and was ranked second among private companies in the Corporate Knights 2022 Future 50 Fastest-Growing Sustainable Companies in Canada. It’s Board of Directors includes Nobel Laureate and former Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu. For more information on Svante, visit www.svanteinc.com.
