Neustark raises $69 million to expand carbon removal efforts

Neustark, a Switzerland-based carbon removal company, has raised USD $69 million in a new growth equity funding round. Led by Decarbonization Partners, with participation from Blume Equity, the round aims to support neustark's expansion across Europe, North America, and the Asia-Pacific region.

The funds will also aid in achieving the company’s mission to remove 1 million tons of CO2 by 2030.

Existing investors, including Siemens Financial Services, Verve Ventures, ACE Ventures, and Holcim, continue to back neustark, while UBS has provided additional capital via debt financing. Decarbonization Partners is a joint venture between Temasek and BlackRock, both well-known entities in the sustainable investing space.

Neustark utilises an IP-protected solution to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. The process involves capturing biogenic CO2 from partnering biogas plants, liquefying it, and transporting it to construction waste recycling sites. There, the CO2 is injected into concrete granulates from demolished buildings or other mineral waste streams. This process allows the CO2 to be bound permanently within the granules through an accelerated mineralisation process. The resultant carbonated, recycled aggregate can then be used in various construction applications.

Johannes Tiefenthaler, co-CEO and founder of neustark, stated, "We turn the world’s largest waste stream—demolition concrete—into a carbon sink. In the last year, we have already deployed our unique solution at 19 sites. This growth investment will take us into the next exciting phase of our mission, helping us to further scale our impact across Europe, enter new markets in North America and Asia-Pacific, and develop new solutions to store even more CO2 in mineral waste streams."

Neustark currently operates 19 carbon capture and storage plants across Switzerland, Austria, Liechtenstein, and Germany. An additional 40 plants are under construction in Europe, with a robust pipeline of further projects. To date, the company has sold nearly 120,000 tons of carbon removal credits to clients such as Microsoft, UBS, and NextGen, positioning it as one of Europe's fastest-growing carbon removal entities. All of its projects are certified under the Gold Standard, ensuring credible third-party assessment and transparency.

Meghan Sharp, Global Head and Chief Investment Officer of Decarbonization Partners, commented, "With carbon capture, utilization, and storage being one of our key investment focuses, we believe that we have found a perfect partner to help scale the industry—and ultimately its decarbonization impact—in the years to come. Neustark not only helps organisations integrate carbon removal to address their hard-to-abate emissions, but their solution also contributes to decarbonising the construction industry."

She continued, "With their unique business model that seamlessly integrates two existing and mature industries without disrupting their day-to-day operations, neustark has established themselves as one of the global leaders in high-quality, durable CDR with a solution that is removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere today."

The new funding round allows neustark to leverage Decarbonization Partners' global platform and network, including their access to corporate and institutional investors across North America and Asia-Pacific. Blume Equity's involvement brings additional expertise in scaling climate tech companies across Europe. This collaboration is expected to bolster neustark’s ability to meet the increasing global demand for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) solutions.

The CDR market is experiencing significant growth due to increasing demand for trusted carbon credits and durable carbon removal solutions. According to Tiefenthaler, "The CDR market is experiencing substantial growth, driven by high-quality and durable carbon removal solutions, and a surging demand for trusted carbon credits. Despite this, we need to exponentially accelerate the removal of CO2 if we want to reach net zero goals by 2050. This target will only be possible by globally deploying highly scalable, measurable, and commercially viable carbon removal solutions at the scale of millions of tons per year."

Neustark’s technological and operational advancements place it in a strong position to contribute significantly to global carbon removal targets.

This latest investment round underscores the confidence investors have in the company’s potential to make a measurable impact in the fight against climate change.