CALGARY, AB (March 13, 2024) NGIF Capital (“NGIF”), through Cleantech Ventures, its venture fund investing in cleantech innovation in the natural gas sector, today announced its investment in Carbonova Corporation’s (“Carbonova” or the “Company”) oversubscribed CDN$6MM SAFE financing.
The financing round was led by Kolon Industries, a multi-billion-dollar Korean conglomerate. Kolon has a keen interest in Carbonova’s technology applications in Asia, including batteries, plastics, and other materials.
The round also featured participation from NGIF Capital, a venture capital firm focused on innovative technologies for improving the environmental performance of the natural gas value chain, the Company’s directors, management, and staff team. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the financing to advance its strategy towards building the first commercial demonstration carbon nanofibers unit in Canada. This funding adds to the previously announced $2.5 million from Sustainable Development Technology Canada and the National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program.
“Carbonova’s vision is to create everyday essentials from everyday emissions for everyone on earth, and with this financing, we are on track to complete the design of our first-of-a-kind commercial demo unit to put our vision into action,” said Mina Zarabian, Carbonova’s CEO and Co-Founder. “We have investors and customers from the wide spectrum of the carbon value chain validating the strong pull from the market for transitioning to this recycling of carbon to enhance the building blocks of virtually everything in modern society.”
Carbonova currently produces carbon nanomaterials for customers at a pilot facility at the company’s headquarters in northeast Calgary, Alberta. The commercial demonstration expansion will result in unit production cost efficiencies and is forecast to reduce the CO2 footprint of the carbon nanomaterials to below net zero.
Image: Carbonova Nanofibers
“Natural gas value chain participants require solutions for CO2 utilization that are easy to implement and provide a strong business case,” said John Adams, NGIF Cleantech Ventures Managing Partner. “CO2 conversion using natural gas to high-value carbon products presents a solid business use case, and Carbonova is well positioned to be at the center of this evolution.”
“Carbonova is on track to complete the front-end engineering design of its first commercial demo unit; the new design will represent a significant scale-up from Carbonova’s existing pilot facility,” said Zarabian. “The new plant will generate multiple hundreds of kilograms of carbon nanomaterials per day. This amount is sufficient to generate thousands of tons of sustainable end products and serve dozens of customers to bring their own innovative sustainable products in different sectors to the market.”
“The Canadian natural gas industry continues to remain at the forefront of environmental stewardship and innovation. Through investments in companies such as Carbonova, NGIF is further focusing the efforts of the industry to adopt and scale these cutting-edge solutions,” said Timothy M. Egan, President and CEO of the Canadian Gas Association (CGA).
About NGIF Capital
NGIF Capital is a venture capital firm and for-profit investment arm of NGIF with a dedicated team of professionals that operates current and future investment funds. NGIF Capital is unique in how it brings energy industry leadership to every investment with strong connections to every part of the value chain. NGIF Capital currently operates Cleantech Ventures Fund I.
About Cleantech Ventures Fund I
Cleantech Ventures Fund I is a $55 million industry-led venture capital fund that primarily invests in early-stage clean-technology companies. The objective of the Fund is to invest in technologies that lead to environmental performance in the energy industry. These solutions are typically focused on existing natural gas production, transmission, distribution, storage, and end-use applications, as well as increased production of renewable natural gas and hydrogen. For more information, please visit ngif.ca
About Carbonova
Carbonova’s revolutionary patent-protected process converts widely-available greenhouse gas feedstocks – such as methane and carbon dioxide – into a sustainable, relatively inexpensive, high quality solid carbon nanomaterials product. The carbon nanomaterials can then be used in multiple market applications, ranging from plastics to batteries and construction materials. Carbon nanomaterials have unique performance attributes, including low density, high mechanical strength, as well as electrical and heat properties, which contribute to improving the overall performance and reduce the carbon footprint of everyday products. For more information, please visit Carbonova.com
Fund Information:
John Adams
President and CEO, NGIF Capital
Managing Partner, NGIF Cleantech Ventures
613-748-0057
jadams@ngif.ca
Media Information:
Ayoola Ajibare
Communications Coordinator, NGIF Capital Corporation
403-389-2212
aajibare@ngif.ca
