Neustark secures USD69 million to expand carbon removal solution globally

Neustark, a Switzerland-based carbon removal provider, has raised $69 million in a funding round to underpin its rapid scale-up in the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) market. The growth equity round was led by Decarbonization Partners, a partnership between BlackRock and Temasek, and will reinforce neustark’s continued growth path and support their mission to permanently remove 1 million tons of CO₂ in the year 2030.

Climate tech growth investor Blume Equity also participated in the round. The new investors join neustark’s existing backers, which are all continuing their support: Holcim, Siemens Financial Services, Verve Ventures, and ACE Ventures. In addition, UBS has contributed capital to the round via debt financing. Neustark also has a strategic collaboration with Holcim to scale up its carbon removal technology globally, enabling building solutions that are both circular and low-carbon. Neustark co-founder Johannes Tiefenthaler and Ueli Bötschi, Head of New Business Development at Holcim, shared insights about this partnership at a recent SEF.Growth event.

From capturing CO2 at biogas plants to permanent storage

Biogenic CO₂ is captured from partnering biogas plants, then liquified and transported to construction waste recycling sites. There, the carbon dioxide is injected into concrete granulates from demolished buildings or other mineral waste such as slag and slurry. Neustark’s technology triggers an accelerated mineralization process, binding the CO₂ permanently to the pores and surface of the granules. The carbonated, recycled aggregate can then be used to build roads or to produce fresh recycled building materials. The mineralization process stores the captured CO₂ for hundreds of thousands of years, and the risk of reversal is proven to be slim to none.

“We turn the world’s largest waste stream – demolition concrete – into a carbon sink. In the last year, we have already deployed our unique solution at 19 sites. This growth investment will take us into the next exciting phase of our mission, helping us to further scale our impact across Europe, enter new markets in North America and Asia Pacific, and develop new solutions to store even more CO₂ in mineral waste streams,” said Johannes Tiefenthaler, co-CEO and founder at neustark.

Neustark has sold nearly 120,000 tons of carbon removal to date, making it one of Europe’s fastest-growing carbon removal companies, with clients including Microsoft, UBS and NextGen. All projects are certified under the Gold Standard to ensure credible third-party assessment and transparency related to performance.

Scaling up across the world  

Neustark will be able to capitalize on Decarbonization Partners’ global platform and reach, including its access to corporates and investors across North America and Asia Pacific and its dedicated decarbonization specialists as well as Blume Equity's deep climate network and expertise in scaling European disruptive climate tech companies. With their partnership, alongside neustark’s existing investors – all of whom possess extensive technology investment portfolios –, neustark will expand its team and enhance its offerings to meet the increasing global demand for CDR.

Meghan Sharp, Global Head & Chief Investment Officer of Decarbonization Partners, said: “With carbon capture, utilization and storage being one of our key investment focuses, we believe that we have found a perfect partner to help scale the industry – and ultimately its decarbonization impact – in the years to come. With their unique business model that seamlessly integrates two existing and mature industries without disrupting their day-to-day operations, neustark has established themselves as one of the global leaders in high-quality durable CDR with a solution that is removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere today.”

(Press release / SK)
Photo: Neustark Founder and Co-CEOs Valentin Gutknecht (l.) and Johannes Tiefenthaler