44.01, a tech firm named after the molecular weight of carbon dioxide, attracted investors including climate investment leaders, geological carbon storage experts and technology developers.
44.01 has completed a $37m (€34m) Series A funding round, led by Norway’s Equinor Ventures with Shorooq Partners in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The funding will help 44.01 to further develop its carbon sequestration technology, bring it to market and expand internationally.
“We believe mineralisation can play a significant role in protecting and repairing our climate,” said Talal Hasan, founder and chief executive officer of 44.01.
A report published last month by the University of Oxford found around seven to nine billion tonnes of CO₂ per year would have to be taken out of the atmosphere by 2050 if the world is to meet the 1.5°Celsius Paris Agreement target. Currently, only two billion tonnes of carbon is being removed, predominantly through the planting of trees.
‘Locking it away forever’
Other investors making funding commitments include Air Liquide Venture Capital, Alumni Ventures, Amazon’s Climate Pledge Fund, Climate Investment, Innovation Development Oman, Planet A Ventures, Salica Oryx Fund, Siemens Financial Services, Sumitomo Corporation and several others. Existing investors including Breakthrough Energy Ventures also took part in the round.
44.01 was founded in 2020 in Oman, which is home to the biggest formation of peridotite in the world. This type of rock has the ability to naturally mineralise CO₂, locking it away forever by turning it into rock.
While mineralisation can take hundreds or even thousands of years in nature, 44.01 has developed a technology that allows it to remove CO₂ at scale in less than a year.
Its process is similar to oil and gas exploration, but in reverse. Instead of extracting hydrocarbons, 44.01 is putting it back into the subsurface. The firm recently completed pilot projects in both Oman and the UAE, and won the Earthshot Prize in 2022 in the “Fix our Climate” category.
Hasan said the vast international expertise of his investors “will help us to accelerate our development and ultimately mineralise CO2 at scale world-wide.”
Developing a cost effective alternative
Rock formations capable of mineralising CO2 can be found on every continent, making it an attractive proposition for investors betting on a technology able to provide a global climate solution. 44.01 said its mineralisation projects can be built quickly, and therefore offer a “cost-effective alternative” to traditional geological carbon storage.
“This investment represents another step in Equinor’s commitment to test and explore innovative solutions for climate change mitigation,” said Lars Klevier, head of Equinor Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Norwegian state-owned oil, gas and energy firm Equinor.
Jamey Mulligan, head of carbon neutralisation at Amazon, said the online retail giant’s investment in 44.01’s technology “complements Amazon’s existing efforts in carbon reduction including investments in electric vehicles, renewable energy, lower-carbon fuels, and hydrogen”.
The UAE “has been playing a vital role in advancing climate tech initiatives with the nation’s leadership paving the way, and we are proud to contribute to this mission”, said Mahmoud Adi, founding partner of Abu Dhabi-based tech investor Shorooq Partners.
Adi added the investment “aligns with our vision of fostering groundbreaking technologies that address critical global challenges and move towards a more sustainable and safer future”.
