Equinor Ventures is pleased to announce an investment in Captura, a California-based carbon removal company. The USD 12 million raise was led by Equinor Ventures, and joined by Aramco Ventures, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Future Planet Capital, Hitachi Ventures, and mTerra Ventures.
The funding will allow Captura to accelerate its rigorous piloting program, while simultaneously continuing to improve the technology. In 2022, Captura began ocean trials of its first pilot system that is capable of capturing one ton of CO2 annually in Newport Beach. Captura is currently building its next-generation pilot system that will have 100x the capacity of the first and is expected to be installed at an ocean-based facility in 2023. In parallel, Captura’s engineers and scientists are developing proprietary optimized membranes to increase electrical efficiency and further reduce removal costs.
“Equinor Ventures is committed to investing across a menu of scalable carbon removal technologies. Direct ocean capture represents a compelling space for Equinor to leverage its offshore competence. We look forward to working with Captura to help catalyze its technology and business,” said Lars Klevjer, Acting Managing Director of Equinor Ventures.
