Displaying items by tag: Cemex Ventures

UK: Cemex UK has announced that it will begin to use hydrogen on an industrial scale at its Rugby cement plant in Warwickshire. It will do so via HiiROC, a UK-based start-up that has received backing from Cemex Ventures. HiiROC produces carbon-neutral hydrogen using its proprietary Thermal Plasma Electrolysis (TPE) process, which requires just 20% of the electrical energy used in water electrolysis and captures carbon as a solid byproduct, avoiding CO₂ emissions. HiiROC’s modular solution can be deployed as single units to full-scale industrial plants. The hydrogen produced can be used as an alternative energy source to fuel clinker production processes, helping Cemex to achieve its decarbonisation goals.

"Our investment in this innovative project alongside HiiROC reinforces Cemex's commitment to transform the industry by working hand in hand with disruptive startups and new technologies," said Gonzalo Galindo, the head of Cemex Ventures. "Hydrogen as an alternative energy source has the ability to significantly reduce CO₂ emissions in our operations, aligning with our 2050 goal of becoming a net-zero CO₂ company and a leader in the industrial use of hydrogen."

Mexico: Cemex Ventures, the corporate venture capital and open innovation unit of Cemex, has published its fifth annual Top 50 Contech Startups list for 2024. The Top 50 lists the start-ups operating in the global construction technology sector that Cemex Ventures believes show the greatest disruptive potential. The unit evaluates start-ups across four strategic areas: green construction; enhanced productivity; construction supply chain; and future of construction.

In 2023, global construction technology investments totalled US$3.03bn, down by 44% year-on-year due to macroeconomic factors impacting funding. Investments in enhanced productivity accounted for 45% of the total, and investments in green construction for 24%.

Gonzalo Galindo, head of Cemex Ventures, said "Our investment analysts track investment data throughout the year and continually engage with global start-ups to target the most innovative solutions that are consistent with our mission to foster the construction industry revolution. Innovation requires a long-term approach and cannot be defined by a year alone, but our Top 50 Contech Startups list and report helps us track innovation through investment and technology adoption and gauge the health of the construction start-up ecosystem.”

UK: Cemex’s corporate venture capital and open innovation unit Cemex Ventures has increased its stake in green hydrogen production technology developer HiiROC. Cemex Ventures described hydrogen as a ‘breakthrough approach’ to CO₂ reduction in the cement sector.

Head of Cemex Ventures Gonzalo Galindo said "This news comes at a critical moment, when COP28 has brought the world together to address and refocus the climate agenda and buckle down on the responsibility of governments and private corporations to deliver on their decarbonisation objectives ahead of 2030. With our increased investment in HiiROC, we are especially proud to be number one in the use of hydrogen in the cement sector and are committed to keep scouting new ways to deploy hydrogen at a grand scale at Cemex’s 60 cement and grinding plants.”

Spain: Cemex’s venture capital unit Cemex Ventures announced the launch of its second LeapLab accelerator programme for high-potential start-ups on 30 November 2023. The programme introduces a cohort of five start-ups from around the globe, which will carry out pilot-scale tests of their technologies across 100 Cemex sites in 12 different countries. Throughout the process, experts from Cemex and partner organisations will support the work of the start-ups as mentors, pilot leaders, speakers and assistants, as well as providing business advice and support in network building. The selected start-ups are AI technology developers Introid, Mixteresting and Verusen, hybrid vehicle fuel optimisation company Movener and water monitoring specialist Waterplan.

Cemex’s executive vice president of digital and organisation development Luis Hernández said “Start-up acceleration is a key pillar of Cemex’s open innovation strategy, since the time to scale the technologies that enable us to build a better future is now. By combining the disruptive solutions and agility of start-ups with Cemex’s extensive industry networks and resources, start-up acceleration is a vehicle for tangible innovation generation.”

France: Cemex’s venture capital unit Cemex Ventures has invested in construction value chain CO₂ emissions monitoring software developer Vizcab. Vizcab aims to help enable built environments to conform to stricter environmental regulations.

Head of Cemex Ventures Gonzalo Galindo said “Vizcab's exhaustive solution enables cooperation between different stakeholders to manage carbon strategies throughout a project's lifecycle, a critical challenge in our complex and interconnected industry. This solution also implements the use of building materials with sustainable attributes, such as Cemex's Vertua portfolio of products.”

Canada/UK: Carbon Upcycling has raised US$26m in a Series A funding round. The clean tech company says that the funding will support its construction of planned carbon capture systems at CRH's Mississauga cement plant in Canada and Cemex UK's Rugby cement plant in the UK. Carbon Upcycling’s technology injects captured CO₂ into industrial byproducts and minerals to produce supplementary cementitious materials. BDC Capital and Climate Investment led the funding round, with strategic investments from Cemex Ventures, CRH and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures.

Carbon Upcycling chief executive officer Apoorv Sinha said "Closing this round is a major milestone on the road to becoming the most impactful carbon tech company of this decade.” He continued “Over the next year, our mission is to demonstrate our technology's versatility, scalability and operational elegance. Significant, cost-effective decarbonisation potential in the cement industry is possible without a green premium.”

Mexico-based Cemex first invested in Carbon Upcycling via its venture capital unit Cemex Ventures in February 2022. Its said “Cemex is committed to supporting decarbonisation for the built environment, and our follow-on investment in Carbon Upcycling demonstrates such ambition. Carbon Upcycling provides a scalable solution that effectively reduces the carbon footprint of cement. Increasing the supply and use of cementitious materials aligns with Cemex’s goals of reducing CO₂ emissions and becoming fully net-zero by 2050”

The collaboration between Carbon Upcycling and Cemex dates to early 2020, and work towards a commercial-scale plant at the Rugby cement plant commenced in June 2022. The project will target a capture capacity of 1600t/yr, and has secured US$2.96m in government funding from UK Research and Innovation. Cemex says that it will subsequently roll out further CO₂ mitigation projects in partnership with Carbon Upcycling at cement plants across Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Mexico and the US.

Switzerland: Cemex's innovation investments subsidiary Cemex Ventures has made a further investment in solar-powered clinker production system developer Synhelion. Synhelion's technology enables cement plants to entirely replace fuels in their cement production with concentrated solar heat. Cemex Ventures said that its investment reflects the importance of sustainable fuel alternatives for Cemex's 2050 net zero CO₂ emissions strategy.

Other investors include oil company Eni, engineering company SMS Group and airline Swiss.

US: Mexico-based Cemex Ventures has invested in construction sustainability early-stage venture fund Zacua Ventures. The producer says that other investors include Andres Construction, GS Futures, Progreso X and Sabancı Building Materials Group.

Cemex Ventures head Gonzalo Galindo said
"As pioneers in the construction industry's transformation, we are happy to be part of this investment vehicle to seek innovative solutions that help boost productivity, sustainability and urbanization.” Galindo added “The collaboration and synergy between the involved partners will help further accelerate our efforts.”

UK: Carbon capture systems developer Carbon Clean has raised US$150m in its largest funding round to date. US-based energy company Chevron Corporation led the round, with participation from Cemex venture capital subsidiary Cemex Ventures, Marubeni Corporation, WAVE Equity Partners, AXA IM Alts, Samsung Ventures, Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures and TC Energy.

As a result of the new funding, Carbon Clean says that it will now scale the production of its CycloneCC fully modular carbon capture technology, increase investment in research and development grow its team to meet ‘exponential’ demand growth for its products.

Canada: Carbon Upcycling Technologies has secured US$6.15m in financing from a group of companies led by Clean Energy Ventures, Cemex Ventures, Amplify Capital and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures (OLCV). The investment round includes participation from Zero Carbon Partners, Purpose ESG, Clean Energy Venture Group, Fund for Sustainability and Energy, Prithvi Ventures, Bryan Trudel, and Mark and Faye McGregor. Carbon Upcycling intends to use the funding to grow its team and build its second commercial-scale facility in North America, with a production capacity of over 200t/day of its cement and concrete additive. Carbon Upcycling sequesters CO₂ in secondary cementitious materials such as fly ash, which are then used in cement or concrete production.