UK-based Econic Technologies, a deep-tech carbon utilisation company has announced the successful close of the first round of a multimillion capital raise. The capital has been raised from Econic’s existing and a new investor and will allow the company to respond to ‘growing customer demand for our technology and to create value from using captured CO2 in everyday products’, according to CEO Keith Wiggins.
The round was led by incoming investor, Capricorn Sustainable Chemistry Fund, with follow-on support from longstanding investor OGCI Climate Investments. Both Capricorn Partners and OGCI have dedicated funds that align very closely with Econic’s net-zero ambitions.
“Econic offer a fantastic and innovative chemical technology for the sustainable manufacture of polymers with reduced environmental impact. We’re so pleased to be coming on board to work with the team as they bring their product to market”, said Yvette Go, Investment Director at Capricorn Sustainable Chemistry Fund.
Econic licenses and sells catalyst and process technology that transforms waste CO2 into a raw material for the manufacture of polymers used in essential every-day products. Incorporating waste CO2 into the production of these products reduces their carbon footprints by up to 30%. The capital raise will enable the scale-up of these efforts, allowing the company to further pursue its route to commercialisation.
“We are very excited about the commercial interest we are seeing globally in Econic as consumer-facing companies seek to reduce the carbon footprint of their products,” said Matthew Harwood, CSO at OGCI Climate Investments, commenting on their further participation in this latest funding round.
Econic will first incorporate CO2 into polyols – the building block for polyurethanes and used in polyurethane products for mattresses, insulation, textiles, light-weighting vehicles, amongst many other applications including coatings and adhesives. The polyols market is valued at $28Bn and is growing.
In addition, Econic is developing CO2 based surfactant ingredients for use in cleaning, home and personal care, and industrial products. These applications currently use millions of tonnes of oil-based raw materials every year. Econic’s technology uses CO2 to replace up to 50% of the oil-based component. The non-ionic surfactants market is valued at $20Bn and is growing.
The use of CO2 to sustainably displace conventional oil-based feedstocks complements bio-based raw materials and creates more cost-effective, higher performing, end products. Econic was founded in 2011 by Prof. Charlotte Williams, at Imperial College London.