Neustark secures USD $69 million for carbon removal expansion

Neustark, a carbon removal provider based in Switzerland, has raised USD $69 million in a recent funding round. The equity funding initiative was led by Decarbonization Partners, a collaboration between BlackRock and Temasek, focusing on bolstering these carbon capture and removal technologies across Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region.

Blume Equity, a climate tech growth investor, also participated in the round. Decarbonization Partners and Blume Equity join existing stakeholders Siemens Financial Services, Verve Ventures, ACE Ventures, Holcim, and UBS, which provided debt financing. The financial backing supports Neustark's mission of removing one million tons of CO2 by 2030.

Neustark has developed a unique solution for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) that captures CO2 at its point of origin and binds it within mineral waste streams through an accelerated mineralisation process. Johannes Tiefenthaler, Co-CEO and Founder of Neustark, explained the process: "We turn the world's largest waste stream—demolition concrete—into a carbon sink."

Biogenic CO2 is sourced from partnering biogas plants, liquified, and transported to construction waste recycling sites. The CO2 is then injected into concrete granulates from demolished buildings or other mineral waste, triggering a mineralisation process that stores the CO2 permanently. The resulting carbonated, recycled aggregate can subsequently be used to construct roads or produce fresh, recycled building materials.

Neustark's technology is already operational at 19 sites across Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Germany, and the company plans to build 40 additional plants across Europe. The firm has sold nearly 120,000 tons of carbon removal, counting companies such as Microsoft, UBS, and NextGen among its clients. All projects adhere to the Gold Standard for certified third-party assessment and transparency.

Tiefenthaler expressed optimism about the company's growth: "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."

He added, "The CDR market is experiencing substantial growth, driven by high-quality and durable carbon removal solutions, and a surging demand for trusted carbon credits. Despite this, we need to exponentially accelerate the removal of CO2 if we want to reach net zero goals by 2050. This target will only be possible by globally deploying highly scalable, measurable, and commercially viable carbon removal solutions at the scale of millions of tons per year."

Neustark's strategic collaboration with Holcim aims to scale its carbon removal technology globally, contributing to circular, low-carbon building solutions. The funding will enable Neustark to capitalise on Decarbonization Partners' global reach, which includes access to corporates and investors across North America and Asia-Pacific and dedicated decarbonisation specialists.

Meghan Sharp, Global Head and Chief Investment Officer of Decarbonization Partners, commented, "With carbon capture, utilisation, 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 decarbonisation impact in the years to come. Neustark not only helps organisations integrate carbon removal to address their hard-to-abate emissions, but their solution also contributes to decarbonising the construction industry."

Sharp added, "With their unique business model that seamlessly integrates two existing and mature industries without disrupting their day-to-day operations, Neustark has established themselves as one of the global leaders in high-quality, durable CDR with a solution that is removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere today."