Decarbonization startup Furno closed an oversubscribed $6.5 million seed funding round and introduced its end-to-end cement production unit, the Furno Brick.
Furno addresses the immediate need for change and innovation in the cement sector with what it calls “the world’s first modular and carbon-neutral cement plant that scales on demand, drastically reducing the barrier to entry and unlocking local or small-scale cement production.”
“It is an exciting time in the cement and concrete industry, with dozens of emerging technologies working to decarbonize the space,” said Marty Ozinga, chief executive officer of Ozinga Bros. “After researching most of them, we believe Furno stands out as one that has the potential to scale most quickly and be most disruptive to traditional cement plants. We are excited to closely monitor their progress and be one of their early adopters.”
Furno’s kiln and combustion technology allows for efficient cement production using gas-based versus solid fuels, which dramatically reduces CO2 emissions and eliminates nitrogen oxides and sulfur oxides entirely. The innovative design also allows producers to build cement plants that are compact and cost efficient, and enables them to add incremental capacity as needed.
Furno’s oversubscribed round was led by Energy Capital Ventures (ECV) and joined by O’Shaughnessy Ventures, Cantos and Neotribe. Breakthrough Energy participated in earlier, non-dilutive funding of the company.
