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BFD Expert Voices - Climate Deals

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Ocean carbon removal startup Captura has raised $21.5 million in an expansion of a Series A round to commercialize its technology.

Why it matters: Using the ocean is looking like one of the most efficient and low cost methods for carbon removal. 

Details: Pasadena, Calif.-based Captura brought on new corporate investors with the round, including the VC arms of shipping giant Maersk, and energy companies Eni and EDP.

Existing investor Future Planet Capital led the round, which also included Equinor Ventures, Hitachi Ventures, and Aramco Ventures, among others.

The funds will help Captura design a first-of-a-kind commercial plant that can remove 50,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year from seawater. It's also building an additional 1,000-ton-per-year pilot plant with Equinor in Norway.

Captura currently has an operational pilot plant that can pull 100 tons per year from seawater using a process called electrodialysis, powered by clean electricity, at the Port of L.A. The tech was developed at the California Institute of Technology.

Zoom in: Captura CEO Steve Oldham was previously the CEO of Carbon Engineering, a direct air capture company that was acquired by oil company Occidental. 

"The ocean is already good at capturing CO2," Oldham says. 

Ocean carbon removal can also be cheap, Oldham says, explaining that Captura's technology can get to $100 per ton of CO2 removed pretty quickly. 

The cost of using direct air capture machines to remove carbon from the air can cost anywhere from a couple hundred to several hundred dollars per ton of CO2. The Department of Energy has a goal to get carbon removal to under $100 per ton. 

What's next: The company will need to raise funding over the next 18 months to finance its commercial plant. 

"We're moving through the VC phase and will be looking for infrastructure funding," Oldham added. 

Maersk, Eni, EDP back $21.5M round for ocean carbon removal

The first commercial plant could remove 50K tons per year

Captura's 100-ton-per-year direct ocean capture pilot system at AltaSea at the Port of L.A. Photo courtesy of Captura

carbon capture

Ocean carbon removal startup Captura has raised $21.5 million in an expansion of a Series A round to commercialize its technology.Why it matters: Using the ocean is looking like one of the most efficient and low cost methods for carbon removal.

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Maersk, Eni, EDP back $21.5M round for ocean carbon removal

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