Brimstone raises $55 million for its carbon-negative cement technology
The American startup Brimstone Energy is taking on an ambitious and crucial challenge for the construction sector: to mass-produce carbon-free Portland cement. To achieve this, it relies on a magnesium compound capable of permanently sequestering CO2 by mineralizing it. The materials thus produced are therefore carbon-negative, making them better than low-carbon and CO2-neutral cements.
Thanks to this promising mission, Brimstone Energy has just raised $55 million with funding coming from the Bill Gates’ Breakthrough Energy Ventures and DCVC. Amazon also participated in the funding round through its Climate Pledge Fund. The company had already raised $5 million last November and is now one of the best-funded “cleantech” companies in the world – before it has even generated a single dollar in revenue.
Its co-founders, Cody Finke and Hugo Leandri, are Californian engineers. They have developed a process for making Ordinary Portland Cement (OPC) without the need for limestone. Instead, they make cement using a process that uses calcium silicate, which doesn’t produce CO2 when converted into lime. The process also produces magnesium minerals which absorb CO2 from the air, making the material carbon negative on the whole. The process is subject to four patents.
Sogelink is looking to become the European construction tech champion after two new major acquisitions
Sogelink, a French provider of software solutions for infrastructure and construction professionals, has just announced two international acquisitions: the Dutch group Locatiqs (provider of FSM, or field service management software solutions) and the Norwegian company Focus Software (a BIM or building information modelling software company). These two new acquisitions bring the total number of companies acquired by Sogelink over the past five years to eight.
The Lyon-based software publisher now intends to accelerate its international ambitions. It aims to become the European construction tech champion, helping industry stakeholders with the digitalisation of their value chain, from project conception, design and operation with digital twins and BIM.
Sogelink now has 650 employees and total revenues of more than €130 million. Its goal is to reach €180 million by 2024, most likely through new acquisitions.
Greenly raises €21 million to make carbon accounting more accessible
French startup Greenly has recently raised funds of €21.5 million in a funding round including the venture capital fund XAnge and the American investment firm Energy Impact Partners, as well as new business angels such as Jean-Baptiste Rudelle (Criteo).
Greenly tool offers SMEs an easy way to calculate their carbon footprint, by automating as many data collection and analysis steps as possible. Greenly connects to more than 100 different software (accounting, expenses, etc.) and e-commerce platforms to simplify the carbon accounting process, before proposing ways a business can reduce its carbon emissions. The construction sector is one of its main customer segments.
In addition to France, Greenly is already established in the US and Great Britain, where it is likely to benefit from recent regulatory changes. For example in France, companies with more than 500 employees must now carry out a basic carbon assessment, or Bilan GES, which is to be renewed every four years. In the US, the SEC adopted a draft regulation last March obliging companies to disclose information within two to four years concerning their direct greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption.
There’s more:
Eldo, the TripAdvisor of construction, raises six million euros — La Tribune
Viaco wants to increase the number of building site panels — Le Moniteur
The Czech startup Cyrkl arrives in France to promote the circularity of industrial waste — Environnement magazine
Elon Musk’s tunnel construction company worth nearly $6 billion — Le Figaro
Finnish startup AISTI raises €1.6 million to develop more sustainable acoustic tiles — EU Startups
