Lafarge Joins KPCB and Others During Solidia Technologies Series C Venture Round

Lafarge Joins KPCB and Others During Solidia Technologies Series C Venture Round

Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KCPB), Bright Capital, BASF, and BP have recommitted to Solidia Technologies and are joined in the U.S. start-up’s Series C Round by Lafarge, Total Energy Ventures, Bill Joy and other private investors. Solidia is a cement and concrete technology company commercializing patented processes that make it easy and profitable to use CO₂ to create superior and sustainable building and construction materials.

“As investors, what we look for are big markets where big impact is needed, and where there is the potential for tremendous societal benefit. Solidia offers all that,” said Solidia Board Chairman and KPCB Partner Jan van Dokkum. “With the mix of venture investors committed to sustainable solutions, technology leaders and global industry players, we have built the infrastructure needed to support the commercialization of Solidia’s technology.”

Solidia’s patented technologies start with sustainable Solidia Cement and cure concrete with CO₂ instead of water, reducing carbon emissions up to 70 percent and recycling 60-100 percent of the water used in production. Targeting the estimated US$1 trillion concrete and US$300 billion cement markets, Solidia’s patented processes offer manufacturers significant cost savings compared to water-based curing of conventional cement based on faster curing times, lower energy and raw material consumption, reduced waste generation, and reduced labor requirements.

The new investors include American technology icon Bill Joy who co-founded Sun Microsystems and was an early champion of Solidia’s potential. Joy served on the start-up’s Board for three years in his capacity as a KPCB partner. Other private investors and family offices are also joining Solidia in the Series C Round.

Total Energy Ventures is the corporate venture arm of French energy company Total.

A world leader in building materials, Lafarge already collaborates with Solidia on cement production and concrete applications as well as commercialization of the technology.

Additional collaborators with Solidia include The Linde Group, a global leader in the international gases market, which has extended its CO₂supply and delivery expertise to technology development and commercialization. The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration supports Solidia with a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to examine transportation infrastructure applications at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory(NETL) has co-funded a four-year research and development project as part of its CO₂ Storage Program.

Long-term research continues at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, where the original generation of the technology was developed. Solidia has licensed numerous patents from Rutgers. Collaborative research efforts are also underway in laboratories at Purdue University, Ohio University, and the University of South Florida. The strength and durability of Solidia Concrete has been verified according to ASTM and AASHTO specification by the CTLGroup, formerly the R&D laboratory of the Portland Cement Association.