Houston-based startup Cemvita Factory has raised additional Series A capital for its decarbonization technology.
Cemvita Factory closed its Series A capital raise after adding several new investors, the firm announced Oct. 27. Chicago-based Energy Capital Ventures and New York- and Los Angeles-based 8090 Partners led the closing of Cemvita's Series A round. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Sumitomo Corp. of Americas and Oxy Low Carbon Ventures, a subsidiary of Houston-based Occidental Petroleum Corp. (NYSE: OXY), also contributed to the financing round. Cemvita has raised just over $10 million to date.
"We are excited to have Cemvita supported by leading venture capitalists and strong corporate partners," said Moji Karimi, co-founder and CEO of Cemvita Factory. "This capital will accelerate our growth and help realize a bright future for Houston not just as the oil and gas capital of the world, but the energy transition capital of the world."
Cemvita Factory takes would-be emissions and converts them into other useful end products. The company has a growing portfolio of microorganisms that capture and convert carbon dioxide into alternative fuels and chemicals — like ethylene, which is widely used in the chemicals industry. The firm's technology is based on research done by Tara Karimi, co-founder and chief technology officer at Cemvita, who holds a Ph.D. in biochemistry and postdoctorate degrees in tissue engineering and stem cell programming.
Vic Pascucci III, managing general partner at Energy Capital Ventures, will join the Cemvita board in conjunction with the investment. Earlier this year, Energy Capital Ventures raised $45 million to invest into clean energy startups, Chicago Inno reported.
"What Moji and Tara have built with Cemvita is extraordinarily impressive," said Pascucci. "Their platform of bio-engineered microbes will have game-changing impact on the net-zero emission journey of the natural gas industry."
Cemvita is working with Oxy Low Carbon Ventures on a bio-ethylene pilot plant to convert CO2 emitted from human-made sources as feedstock. The project aims to show that the Houston firm's technology could be competitive with ethylene made with hydrocarbon feedstock sources.
