Southampton-based climate tech startup ViridiCO2, which focuses on the decarbonisation of the chemical industry, has closed a £3m seed round.
Formed as a spinout from the University of Southampton, ViridiCO2 develops carbon capture technology, a method of decarbonisation that takes and stores CO2 emissions in an environmentally friendly way.
ViridiCO2 is looking to decarbonise the “foundation, formulation and chemicals industries”, which are, according to company co-founder and CEO, Daniel Stewart, “some of the world’s greatest polluters”.
Stewart said these industries have created around “seven billion tonnes” of waste carbon dioxide. ViridiCO2 is looking to repurpose this waste into useful chemical products such as surfactants, which are commonly used in detergents.
“In the face of climate change, businesses have realised that sustainability is the fulcrum of their corporate strategy,” Stewart said.
“Rather than an add-on – our technology truly helps these heavy emitting manufacturers transition towards a circular economy, reduce scope 1, 2 & 3 emissions and enable the first ‘carbon-positive plastics’ to hit the market.”
The seed round was led by EQT Ventures, the venture capital arm of Swedish investment manager EQT AB Group.
“We look to back generation-defining companies and ViridCO2 is definitely one that has the potential to accelerate the energy transition of a whole industry,” said Ali Mitchell, a partner at EQT Ventures.
“The tech enables the chemical industry to cut the use of petrochemicals – with a path to removing this feedstock completely – and reduce CO2 emissions which is crucial to limit global warming to below 2 degrees Celsius, to save our planet from a climate catastrophe.”
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