Northern Gritstone invests in C-Capture, leading designer of chemical processes for carbon dioxide removal

C-Capture has patented a unique, solvent-based technology which offers a safe, low-cost way to capture carbon dioxide (CO2) from emissions sources across a range of industries.

Northern Gritstone has invested in C-Capture, the leading designer of chemical processes for carbon dioxide (CO2) removal, as part of a funding round of up to £10 million alongside existing investors bp Ventures, Drax and Kiko Ventures (IP Group), with the potential for additional investors to follow.

Based in Leeds, C-Capture was formed in 2009 as a spin-out from the School of Chemistry at the University of Leeds with initial funding from IP Group. The company has since won backing from private investors and from the UK Government to develop its innovative carbon capture technology, which can prevent CO2 emissions from industrial processes from entering the atmosphere.

C-Capture’s next-generation solvent technology offers a sustainable solution to decarbonisation, using up to 40% less energy than currently available approaches. It is extremely robust and suitable for use even within hard-to-abate industries. C-Capture uses new, proprietary solvents to remove carbon dioxide emissions at source, offering a safer, more efficient, and more cost-effective alternative to current technologies based on traditional chemistries.

Making carbon dioxide removal significantly more economically viable from a wider range of large-scale processes, such as power generation from coal, gas and biomass, and the production of cement, steel, and aluminium is central to C-Capture’s vision. In this way, it offers these industries a route to decarbonisation. The company has already delivered around 20 feasibility studies with end customers across a wide range of sectors and use cases.

Today’s investment by Northern Gritstone will support C-Capture’s technology commercialisation strategy which includes further testing of its one tonne per day, fully-integrated carbon removal pilot plant that is currently operating at Drax power station in Yorkshire. The funding will also be used to scale up C-Capture’s technology through the delivery of a commercial demonstration plant which will capture around 100-200 tonnes of carbon dioxide per day.

This investment comes shortly after the UK government has announced £20 billion of funding to support four carbon capture clusters that will support thousands of jobs across the UK.

Tom White, CEO of C-Capture, said: “There has never been a more critical time to take action – decisive action – against climate change than right now. This investment brings us one step closer to realising our mission of mitigating climate change by allowing our team to focus on scaling our technology. From our first meeting with Duncan and his team, we knew that our priorities and values are very much aligned so we’re very pleased to welcome Northern Gritstone as an investor. With their expertise in backing visionary companies in the North of England, I see a very bright future ahead of us.”

Duncan Johnson, CEO of Northern Gritstone, said: “Carbon capture is critical for the energy transition and C-Capture’s unique technology has the potential to be applied at scale around the world as part of the global drive to tackle climate change. The company is a testament to how the world-leading science in the North of England could shape the world for the better. We look forward to joining forces with Tom and his team, and the company’s existing shareholders, as C-Capture looks to further scale its technology, helping global efforts to address climate change.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

About C-Capture

C-Capture designs world-leading chemical processes for carbon dioxide removal. It has patented a unique, solvent-based technology which offers a safe, low-cost way to remove carbon dioxide from emissions sources such as power stations, industrial plants, and anaerobic digesters for positive environmental benefit. In May 2018, C-Capture announced a partnership with Drax Group to run a pilot of its technology at the North Yorkshire power station, which saw carbon dioxide captured from biomass used in power generation and show how C-Capture’s technology can be used as part of a process to remove existing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (BECCS).

C-Capture is proud of the potential its technology offers to mitigate climate change as part of the growing market for environmentally conscious power generation and industrial processes. The company was formed in 2009 as a spin-out from the University of Leeds, and is backed by IP Group, Drax and bp Ventures.

www.c-capture.co.uk

About Northern Gritstone

Northern Gritstone is a groundbreaking investment company, which is dedicated to supporting the commercialisation of academic spin-outs and IP-rich businesses based in the North of England.

Launched in July 2021 by the Universities of Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield, it was founded with the philosophy of Profit with Purpose, combining strong returns for investors with wider positive, societal and economic impact, including supporting Levelling Up and high-skilled job creation in the North of England.

The company is deploying more than £300m of capital, having secured commitments from a broad and diverse base of investors including British Patient Capital, Greater Manchester Pension Fund, West Yorkshire Pension Fund, M&G and Columbia Threadneedle, among others. It is dedicated to financing companies in some of the UK’s fastest growing sectors such as advanced materials, energy, health technology and cognitive computation and has already made 11 investments in some of the UK’s most exciting future science and technology-enabled businesses.

For more information please go to: https://northern-gritstone.com/

About the Founding Universities

The Universities of Leeds, Manchester, and Sheffield are renowned education and research institutions that have built a strong reputation for innovation across multiple sectors for nearly 200 years. Each University is a trusted long-term strategic partner to many of the world’s best-known businesses across multiple industry sectors.

Combined, the Universities share a talent pool of over 8,400 dedicated researchers, 11,000 academic staff, and 33,000 postgraduate students and generate an annual income of over £2.6 billion. They have been the home to 38 Nobel prize winners and continue to host some of the UK’s leading research institutes developing new insights and solutions into business development and sustainable growth.

In total the Founding Universities produce 1 in 11 of all patents and 1 in 5 of every IP licence filed by Higher Education institutes in the UK and are number 1 ranked by research income.