Omani climatetech 44.01 raises $37 million Series A to turn carbon into rock

🪨 Omani climate tech startup, 44.01, has raised $37M Series A funding for its mineralisation technology which aims to eliminate CO2 safely, permanently and at scale - by turning it into rock.

• FYI - 44.01 refers to carbon’s molecular mass.

The company’s tech accelerates the natural process of CO2 mineralisation to remove captured CO2, from the air or from hard-to-abate industrial processes, in less than twelve months.

💰 Investor lowdown: The round was led by Equinor Ventures and UAE-based Shorooq Partners, with participation from a vast number of climate-focused investors, including Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund and Planet A Ventures.

💨 Carbon capture context

Currently, two main methods exist for permanent underground CO2 sequestration:

• Carbon Mineralisation: Used by companies like 44.01 and Carbfix, this method reacts CO2 with rocks to form stable minerals.
• Supercritical CO2 Storage: Stores CO2 in porous rocks such as saline aquifers or old oil and gas reservoirs. This mature and dominant method requires monitoring for potential leaks due to pressure build-up.

🐂 Bull case

1. Although carbon mineralisation costs up to three times more than supercritical storage, it virtually eliminates CO2 leakage and can sequester billions of tons of CO2, essential for net-zero emissions by 2050.
2. Suitable rock formations capable of CO2 mineralisation are found on every continent.
3. Mineralisation projects can be built quickly and modularly, providing a cost-effective alternative to conventional geological carbon storage.

🔮 Flashforward

With this financing round, 44.01 aims to commercialise its technology in Oman and the UAE, where pilot projects have shown it can store 50 to 60 tons of CO2 per day.

• At commercial scale, 44.01 plans to sequester 100 tons of CO2 daily per injection borehole.