Fashion conglomerate H&M Group has taken part in the latest investment round by direct air capture technology provide, Heirloom.
In its Serie B funding round led by Future Positive and Lowercarbon Capital, Heirloom raised $150 million – with Japan Airlines, Mitsubishi, Mitsui & Co, MOL Switch, Quantum Innovation Fund, and Siemens Financial Services joining H&M as new investors. Many of the supporting organisations represent hard-to-decarbonise industries.
Heirloom said its direct air capture technology “enhances the power of limestone” to capture CO2 directly from the air. This is it’s description of the process:
- The Heirloom process starts with natural limestone, nearly 50% of which is CO2.
- By extracting this CO2 from the limestone and adding water, the Heirloom process creates a material that is thirsty for CO2 so it can return to a natural limestone state.
- This material acts like a sponge, pulling CO2 from the atmosphere.
- Heirloom said its technology accelerates this process, reducing the time it takes to absorb CO2 in nature from years to just three days.
- The tech company said once the CO2 is absorbed, it is extracted from the limestone material using a renewable energy-powered kiln and stored permanently underground.
The new funding is set to be used to continue to drive down the cost of the technology, develop additional projects, and provide the finances needed to subsequently access infrastructure capital.
Shashank Samala, CEO of Heirloom, commented: “We’re honoured to receive this vote of confidence from new and repeat investors alike.
“We believe direct air capture is all about cost, cost, and cost – and that it will only scale to make a meaningful difference on climate change if it is affordable. This is precisely why people are investing in Heirloom.”
He added: “Through our real-world deployments and continued technological advancements, we are demonstrating not only that Heirloom has a clear trajectory to the lowest-cost DAC solution – but that we are executing on that vision and delivering results.”
Heirloom was founded in 2020, and late last year it began operating North America’s first commercial direct air capture facility in Tracy, California, following the signing of a CO2 removal deal with tech giant Microsoft. It also providse carbon removal to businesses such as Stripe, Meta, Shopify, JPMorgan, McKinsey, Workday and Autodesk, as well as new investor H&M Group.
Read more about H&M on Green Retail World
[image credit: H&M Group]
