Climeworks raises $650 million

Climeworks, a Swiss carbon removal startup, raised $650 million co-led by Partners Group and GIC. Additional investors participating in the round include Baillie Gifford, Carbon Removal Partners, Global Founders Capital, John Doerr, M&G, Swiss Re and BigPoint Holding.

Founded in 2009, Climeworks develops carbon dioxide air capture technology. One of two things happens to the Climeworks air-captured carbon dioxide: either it is returned to earth, stored safely and permanently away for millions of years, or it is upcycled into climate-friendly products such as carbon-neutral fuels and materials. For example, Aether Diamonds uses captured carbon from Climeworks to create its diamonds.

Last year, Climeworks and Swiss Re signed “the world’s first and largest” 10-year purchase agreement for direct air capture and storage of carbon dioxide.

“We are proud to partner with our new investors and thankful for the renewed trust of our existing ones, all committed to the long-term journey of Climeworks. It is thrilling to see the appetite and support of globally leading investors towards the scale up of our technology; this is a great milestone for our company as well as the entire industry.” – Christoph Gebald, co-founder and co-CEO of Climeworks.

“We founded Climeworks with the vision to provide the world a tech that has the potential to reverse climate change. Accelerating the scale up of carbon removal capacity will play a crucial role in global efforts to keep global warming under 1.5°C, positively impacting the lives of billions of people. And this is what we will do starting now.” – Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder and co-CEO of Climeworks.