NuMat, a Chicago advanced materials startup backed by Patagonia’s VC arm and the founder of Braintree, is working with a large Japanese chemical company to reduce carbon emissions.
NuMat announced Tuesday that it has partnered with Sumitomo Chemical Co., a publicly traded Japanese chemical company, to develop chemical separation technologies that can reduce the carbon footprint required to produce chemicals. Sumitomo has said it has a goal of achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Founded in 2013, NuMat designs gas storage, separation and purification systems, as well as advanced materials for electronics, health care, energy and other sectors. Led by co-founders Benjamin Hernandez and Omar Farha, the startup combines high-performance computing, chemistry and data engineering to design metal-organic frameworks that address a wide range of challenges in industrial and engineering industries.
The startup has raised more than $20 million to date, including $12 million in 2018 from the OS Fund, a VC firm founded by Braintree founder Bryan Johnson, and Tin Shed Ventures, Patagonia’s investment arm that invests in startups offering solutions to the environmental crisis.
Founded in 1913, Sumitomo is among Japan's largest chemical companies with global sales of nearly $21 billion.
The two companies said they plan to develop new solutions that can eventually become a sustainable replacement to today's technologies, as well as near-term commercial applications.
