Neustark Secures US$69 M from BlackRock and Temasek to Expand Global Carbon Removal Projects

Neustark, the Swizz-based carbon removal solution provider, has raised US$69 M from Decarbonization Partners BlackRock and Temasek. The company intends to use the funds to expand its portfolio of global CDR projects and the overall growth of its team.

Let’s deep dive into the deal in the upcoming content.

Decarbonization Partners: The Investment Catalyst for Neustark

Decarbonization Partners, a collaboration between Singapore-based Temasek and the world’s largest asset manager company BlackRock was launched in 2022. They focus on late-stage venture capital and early-growth private equity. They invest in companies developing technologies to accelerate the global transition to a net zero economy by 2050. Sectors like Carbon Capture, Bio Products, Energy Innovation, Mobility, and Digital Transformation are their major investment partners.

Their press release from April revealed.

“The final closure of $1.40B for its inaugural late-stage venture capital and growth private equity investment fund. The Decarbonization Partners Fund I, surpassed its $1 billion fundraising target.”

Noteworthy, Decarbonization Partners led Neustark’s growth equity round, with participation from climate tech investor Blume Equity. Subsequently, new investors joined Neustark’s existing chain of investors. For instance, UBS, Holcim, Siemens, Verve Ventures, and ACE Ventures are continuing their support.

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. Neustark not only helps organizations integrate carbon removal to address their hard-to-abate emissions, but their solution also contributes to decarbonizing the construction industry.”

MUST READ: BlackRock’s Insights on 2024 Low-Carbon Transition Investment Trends

Fueling Neustark’s Ambitious Carbon Removal Goals

Neustark is a pioneer in the carbon removal industry. It offers unique solutions to permanently store CO₂ in recycled mineral waste, such as demolished concrete.

IP-protected Carbon Removal Technology

Scientifically speaking, their IP-protected technology captures biogenic CO2 primarily from biogas plants. It is then liquified and transported to recycling sites for construction waste. There, CO2 is injected into concrete granulates or other mineral waste. Consequently, it triggers the mineralization process that permanently binds CO2 to the surfaces and pores of the granules. The carbonated aggregate can then be used for road construction or to produce recycled building materials. This mineralization process securely stores CO2 for hundreds of thousands of years, with minimal risk of reversal.

Moving on, the company is already capturing and storing tons of CO₂ daily with its initial deployments in Switzerland and Europe. Now, the company is ramping up its operations globally.

The funding from BlackRock and Temasek fuels its ambitious plans of permanently removing 1MT of CO₂ by 2030 and soaring higher.

Notably, Neustark currently has 40 plants under construction across Europe and has already sold nearly 120,000 tons of carbon removal to date. Their key clients include Microsoft, UBS, and NextGen. All projects receive certification under the Gold Standard, ensuring credible third-party assessment and transparency in performance.

Johannes Tiefenthaler, Co-CEO and Founder at Neustark said:

“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.”

Neustark stores around 10kg of CO₂ per ton of demolished concrete. They claim, “One site can do in one hour what 50 trees do in one year.” This is how they make negative emissions.

An example of a remarkable achievement is the large-scale storage plant constructed at a demolition site in Biberist, Switzerland. It’s a collaboration with Alluvia and Vigier Beton Seeland Jura. This plant, with a yearly storage capacity of 1000T of CO₂, has been operational since May 2023.

Financial and Sustainability Highlights of BlackRock and Temasek

BlackRock proudly attributes its success to the trust of its clients and the strong partnerships forged with them.

source: BlackRock

It pursues a sustainability strategy to reduce GHG emissions from its facilities, data centers, and upstream value chains. In 2023, BlackRock made progress by:

Employing energy efficiency strategies
Achieving 100% renewable electricity match
Enhancing SAF and carbon credit procurement processes
Establishing a Supplier Sustainability Program

BlackRock’s emissions reduction goals (relative to 2019 baseline):

67% reduction of Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2030
40% reduction in Scope 3 business travel emissions by 2030
Engaging suppliers representing 67% of emissions to set science-aligned goals by 2025

On the other side, Temasek’s S$382b portfolio, as of 31 March 2023, is primarily concentrated in Singapore and the broader Asia region. It spans diverse industries including financial services, transportation & industrials, telecommunications, media & technology, consumer & real estate, and life sciences & agri-food.

It has implemented an internal carbon price of US$50 per tonne of carbon dioxide equivalent (tCO2e), with plans to increase this to $100 tCO2e by 2030. This initiative aims to deepen climate considerations in investment evaluations.

source: Temasek

Apart from BlackRock, Temasek has also partnered with GenZero, Climate Impact X, Pentagreen Capital, etc. It has formed a dedicated investment platform with an initial capital commitment of S$5 billion. This platform is designed to accelerate and expand global decarbonization solutions.

Overall, we can infer that with support from BlackRock and Temasek, Neustark can make significant strides in carbon removal through innovative solutions.

FURTHER READING: $100B Carbon Market Could Drive $700B Annual Investments in Projects

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