New cash for Gates-backed carbon removal startup
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Photos: Graphyte
Boldface names in climate VC are staking Graphyte, a young startup that says it unlocked a comparatively cheap carbon removal method using biomass.
Why it matters: Backers say the tech has a clear pathway to commercial scale, and it provides a durable and readily monitored form of removal.
Driving the news: Graphyte this morning will announce close of a $30 million Series A deal co-led by Prelude Ventures and Carbon Direct Capital.
- The Bill Gates-led Breakthrough Energy Ventures and Overture are two existing investors also taking part.
How it works: Graphyte takes materials like timber and farming residues that would otherwise release carbon via burning or decomposition.
- They dry it out to prevent degradation, compress it into blocks wrapped in protective barriers, and store them underground with sensors.
What they're saying: Prelude managing director Matt Eggers said Graphyte's tech is "incredibly scaleable," and sees a clear path to getting costs well under $100 per ton of CO2.
- It doesn't rest on "technology miracles," said Eggers, who tells Axios its first facility is close to $100 already. "It's getting toward a really breakthrough cost."
- "This can go anywhere and it can use almost any sort of biomass and in fact, it can use mixed sources of biomass, [there's] nothing that really has to be done other than dry it," he said.
What's next: The company, founded in early 2023, says the cash will help launch four removal facilities in 2025 and 2026.
- It will also support growth of a recently opened project in Arkansas it says will reach a capacity of 50,000 tons of annual removal early next year.
Yes, but: The removal industry remains young and far away from the gigaton-scale needed to become a major weapon against climate change.
The intrigue: The Biden administration backs carbon removal in various ways, but Graphyte's jeopardy from a change in Beltway control could be limited.
- One reason: its method is among the many that don't qualify for climate law removal credits.
- And Eggers said today's buyers of removal services won't stop, "because they believe it's coming no matter who is in the White House for the next four years, and because they believe it's the right thing to do."
The bottom line: The startup hopes to be stashing away over 5 million tons per year by 2030.
"Graphyte aims to be the largest durable carbon dioxide removal supplier in the world," CEO Barclay Rogers said in a statement.
