Again, a carbon utilisation company capturing carbon dioxide (CO₂) and turning it into valuable chemicals, has raised €39.4 million in a Series A round co-led by GV and HV Capital. Born out of research developed over 10 years at the Danish Technical University, Stanford and MIT, the new funding will be used to build additional facilities to combat the climate crisis at scale.
The new funding round also included participation from Kompas VC, EIFO – Denmark’s Export and Investment Fund, ACME Capital, and Atlantic Labs. The capital brings the total raised by Again to $100 million, including a $47 million Horizon Europe grant for the PyroCO2 project. It will be used to build additional production capacity to deliver green chemicals to customers, including its landmark offtake agreement with global chemical distributor HELM AG, and R&D to expand Again’s product portfolio and bring more molecules to market.
Again is providing the means to decarbonise the petrochemical industry, producing green chemicals at low costs, while reducing carbon emissions to accelerate the race to Net Zero. The petrochemical industry contributes around 1.8 gigatonnes of CO₂, or 4% of direct global greenhouse gas emissions annually, making it part of the third-largest emitting industry behind iron/steel and cement. Yet these chemicals are integral to many everyday products including plastics, soap, fertilizer, and paints.
Unlike carbon capture storage (CCS) companies which capture CO₂ and store it away, Again is a carbon utilization company, taking industrial CO₂ and turning it into products. The startup was born out of research developed by Dr. Torbjørn Jensen and Professor Alex Nielsen at DTU, Stanford and MIT. Former early-stage investor Max Kufner completes the founding team, which launched Again in 2021 to build a scalable solution to tackle the climate crisis.
Dr. Torbjørn Jensen, co-founder at Again, said: “Again is the world’s first carbon-negative chemical manufacturer that can scale to meet global demand. Whilst other companies are struggling to make carbon capture scaleable, we have the means to not only capture waste CO₂ but turn it into useful products to fully decarbonise the supply chain. We have ambitious plans ahead and this funding is critical to help us reach the next stage in our mission.”
Again is using bioproduction processes to create the future of chemical manufacturing. It takes waste CO₂ and feeds the gas straight into its bioreactors, where it is fermented with hydrogen, akin to the process of brewing beer. This results in emission-free and commercial-grade chemicals which are sold to its customers at a market-competitive price. This technology is already working at Again’s first carbon utilization facility in Denmark, which is converting CO₂ into acetate, the base chemical for adhesives, solvents, plastics, textiles and cosmetics, and reducing emissions by up to 80%.
Max Kufner, co-founder at Again, commented: “Again is transforming one of the world’s most polluting industries, at no extra cost to customers, at our plant in Denmark and we’re excited to build on this for our next facility. This will help global companies reduce emissions through recycling and improve supply chain resilience through Again’s virtuous cycle. We’re delighted that GV is doubling down on its investment in Again and to welcome HV Capital to the team – their support will be invaluable to Again as we grow in our aim to combat the climate crisis at scale.”
Again co-locates its facilities with industrial emission partners and sources the CO₂ directly onsite to minimize CO2 transport. Again’s first facility integrates with a CO₂ source from an industrial wastewater treatment plant. In parallel to commercial project development, Again offers a cargo-container-sized pilot module for onsite testing of the technology with prospective industrial partners.
By creating this plug-and-play solution, Again is not only decarbonising feedstocks by replacing fossil fuels with CO₂ but also enabling customers to shore up their supply chain resilience by reducing the need to import chemicals from across the world.
Roni Hiranand, Principal at GV, added: “We have been highly impressed with the company’s ability to develop and deploy the core technology so effectively into valuable, market-ready products so we were delighted to co-lead Again’s Series A round after previously backing them. While other sectors have found short-term pathways to mitigating emissions, large segments within the industry still need to achieve the same level of momentum. Again aims to become the leading carbon transformation and utilization company by leveraging microbiology for the production of green chemicals.”
Jan Miczaika, Partner at HV Capital, said: “Again is a once-in-a-generation company that has the technology to solve a major problem, decarbonising the petrochemical industry, and the commercial plan to be able to scale this technology. We’re excited to be a part of this journey with them.”
Read the orginal article: https://www.eu-startups.com/2024/07/copenhagen-based-again-raises-e39-4-million-to-build-full-scale-decarbonisation-plants/
