Carbon conversion startup OCOchem has raised $5m in Seed funding from lead investor TO VC, according to a news release.
Japan’s INPEX Corp., the LCY Lee Family Office, and MIH Capital Management also participated in the round. They join Halliburton Labs, Halliburton Company’s energy and climate tech accelerator, which has been supporting OCOChem since 2021.
The Richland, Wash.-based company is commercializing a way to make highly versatile carbon-neutral platform molecules by electrochemically converting recycled CO2, water and clean electricity into formic acid and formate chemicals, for use in agricultural and industrial applications.
“Using renewable energy, OCOChem’s technology enables the conversion of water and carbon dioxide into formic acid, which is stable under ambient conditions.” The release states. “The formic acid can also be converted to useful carbon and hydrogen components with minimal energy input.”
In addition to investing in the company, INPEX, Japan’s largest oil and gas production company, has partnered with OCOchem to evaluate collaboration opportunities leveraging the company’s technology to transport CO2 and clean hydrogen.
OCOchem will use the new funds to scale its modular carbon conversion technology to industrial proportions and build a pilot plant for commercial demonstration operations.
“Using OCOchem technology and clean electricity, we can now do what plants and trees have been able to do for billions of years — convert CO2 and water into useful organic molecules using clean energy. But unlike photosynthesis, we can do it faster and more efficiently at a lower cost, using much less land,” said Todd Brix, co-founder and CEO of OCOchem, in the news release.
