While many clean-energy companies are looking to the future with electric vehicles to try to reduce carbon emissions, one of Chicago's rising startups is taking a different tack and looking to the past to retrofit equipment already in use.
Backed by Bill Gates' Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Chicago startup ClearFlame Engine Technologies continues to gain interest across various industries.
ClearFlame, which retrofits diesel engines to run on cleaner fuel, on Thursday secured a $30 million Series B funding round.
The round was led by Mercuria Energy Group, with Breakthrough making a second investment as well. New investors include mining corporation Rio Tinto and Wind Ventures.
Named to Chicago Inno's Fire Awards, which recognizes the 50 innovators, change-makers and disruptors that made their mark on the city's tech scene in 2022, ClearFlame also secured $17 million in Series A financing in 2021.
This latest investment round will allow ClearFlame to launch its product in multiple markets, starting with long-haul trucks. It is also exploring partnerships and applications for the mining, agriculture and power generation sectors.
There are two sides of the energy problem, according to BJ Johnson, ClearFlame CEO and co-founder, and ClearFlame wants to find solutions for industries that EVs can't be applied to, whether it's due to infrastructure or cost.
Johnson doesn't think many companies are looking at the "hard to electrify" part of the transportation industry, and that's where ClearFlame will look to shine.
Johnson said he wants ClearFlame to be the Telsa of heavy-duty, and he thinks its engines will complement the EV market.
"ClearFlame could be in a passenger car, but we are much more uniquely beneficial in a freight truck. That's where we focus, and we want EVs to have as much success as they can in their markets too," he said. "If we're serious about achieving sustainability, we have to do it quickly, and there are few things that enable speed more than working with existing assets, existing supply chains, existing technician bases."
A graduate of Stanford University, Johnson and ClearFlame co-founder Julie Blumreiter spent their doctoral research finding solutions to mitigate climate change by ensuring that heavy-duty diesel engines no longer have to rely on fossil fuels to run.
Johnson said that Federal Department of Energy funding moved ClearFlame from concept to patent, while Series A funding moved the company from patent to pilot.
He thinks that ClearFlame was able to land a big funding round as fundraising has cooled for startups across the country because he had something tangible to show investors.
ClearFlame engines first launched in U.S. roadways in 2021 and will pilot five trucks in collaboration with large fleet operators in North America in 2023.
