Direct ocean capture firm expands Series A funding round

Captura announced it expanded its Series A funding round to raise an additional US$21.5m to commercialize its Direct Ocean Capture (DOC) technology that harnesses the power of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide (CO₂) from the atmosphere, according to a news release.

Maersk Growth, Eni Next, and EDP Ventures came aboard as new investors in the round, bringing expertise across shipping and logistics, energy, and utilities to Captura’s team. Many of Captura’s existing backers also re-invested, including Future Planet Capital who led the expanded round, Equinor Ventures, Freeflow Ventures, Hitachi Ventures, Aramco Ventures, mTerra Ventures, and EIC Rose Rock Venture Fund.

Captura raised an initial US$12m in January 2023 and increased its Series A financing to reflect growing momentum as the company progresses its technology pilot program and begins design work for commercial plants. Captura has two operational pilot plants in California and is developing its third in partnership with Equinor. This plant has a capture capacity of 1000 tons of CO₂ annually and is planned to be installed in Norway in Fall, 2024. Following this pilot, Captura plans to move into large-scale commercial deployments with early plants capturing tens of thousands of tons of CO₂ or more annually.

These plants will use Captura’s unique DOC technology that captures CO₂ from the ocean so it can be permanently stored or turned into lower GHG emission fuel or other products. Removing CO₂ from the ocean using DOC amplifies the ocean’s natural capability as a carbon sink, creating capacity for an additional drawdown of CO₂ from the atmosphere.

The result of the process is removal of atmospheric CO₂ via the ocean, without adding anything to the ocean. With CO₂ roughly 150 times more concentrated volumetrically in the ocean compared to air, this provides an inherently scalable and efficient way to remove excess atmospheric CO₂.

Maersk has a 2040 target of net zero greenhouse gas emissions and aims to transport a minimum of 25% of ocean cargo using green fuels by 2030. As part of these ambitious targets, Maersk Growth has committed to invest in and partner with a variety of green fuel and greenhouse gas reduction solutions.