A Denver clean energy startup raised $7.5 million to prepare for the upcoming commercial launch of its technology, which produces renewable natural gas from agricultural byproducts.
Cowboy Clean Fuels announced the close of its Series A round Tuesday. The round was led by Machan Investments, a Houston-based investment firm created by the longtime energy industry executive Dan Dinges. The firm focuses its investments on renewable and sustainable energy.
The startup plans to use the $7.5 million to clear regulatory hurdles and complete the initial engineering design for its first commercial-scale project. The project will be located in the Powder River Basin, which encompasses the northeastern corner of Wyoming.
Co-founder and CEO Ryan Waddington said the startup has the potential to create a scaleable renewable energy solution that can "make a material difference" in the energy economy.
"More importantly, our patented process works in a way that can significantly mitigate the climate problem by removing and permanently sequestering atmospheric carbon dioxide," Waddington said in a statement.
The startup converts agricultural waste into renewable methane by harnessing a naturally occurring biogenic process that occurs in deep geological formations. The basin where production will occur is hundreds of miles long and known for its vast network of coal reserves. The location is the largest coal-producing region in the United States.
Cowboy Clean Fuels plans to use depleted coal bed methane wells and already existing infrastructure at the site.
The process was developed by co-founder and CTO Michael Urynowicz and has been field-tested, the startup said. The Center for Biogenic Natural Gas Research at the University of Wyoming exclusively licensed the technology.
In its announcement Tuesday, Cowboy Clean Fuels said it's aiming to set the "gold standard" for clean fuel production.
Dinges, who has decades of experience as an executive in the energy industry and most recently worked as board chairman for Coterra Energy, said the startup was at the "forefront of technological advances" that would support the future of the renewable natural gas market.
"Natural gas is a vital component to our nation's economy, ensuring its energy independence," Dinges said in a statement. "Fortifying traditional natural gas markets with scalable solutions in [renewable natural gas] production while using existing legacy production infrastructure not only maximizes renewable production output for a better climate but dramatically reduces overall project costs compared to other RNG and carbon sequestration/direct air capture projects."
The startup has about a dozen employees and has raised $10 million total since its founding in 2020, according to Crunchbase.
