Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KCPB), Bright Capital, BASF, and BP have recommitted to Solidia Technologies and are joined in the U.S. start-up's Series C Round by Lafarge, Total Energy Ventures, Bill Joy and other private investors. Solidia is a cement and concrete technology company commercializing patented processes that make it easy and profitable to use CO2 to create superior and sustainable building and construction materials.
'As investors, what we look for are big markets where big impact is needed, and where there is the potential for tremendous societal benefit. Solidia offers all that,' said Solidia Board Chairman and KPCB Partner Jan van Dokkum. 'With the mix of venture investors committed to sustainable solutions, technology leaders and global industry players, we have built the infrastructure needed to support the commercialization of Solidia's technology.'

Solidia's patented technologies start with sustainable Solidia Cement™ and cure concrete with CO2 instead of water, reducing carbon emissions up to 70% and recycling 60-100% of the water used in production. Targeting the estimated US$1 trillion concrete and US$300 billion cement markets, Solidia's patented processes offer manufacturers significant cost savings compared to water-based curing of conventional cement based on faster curing times, lower energy and raw material consumption, reduced waste generation, and reduced labor requirements.

The new investors include American technology icon Bill Joy who co-founded Sun Microsystems and was an early champion of Solidia's potential. Joy served on the start-up's Board for three years in his capacity as a KPCB partner. Other private investors and family offices are also joining Solidia in the Series C Round.

Total Energy Ventures is the corporate venture arm of French energy company Total.

A world leader in building materials, Lafarge already collaborates with Solidia on cement production and concrete applications as well as commercialization of the technology.

Additional collaborators with Solidia include The Linde Group, a global leader in the international gases market, which has extended its CO2 supply and delivery expertise to technology development and commercialization. The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration supports Solidia with a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) to examine transportation infrastructure applications at the Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, and the U.S. Department of Energy's National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) has co-funded a four-year research and development project as part of its CO2 Storage Program.

Long-term research continues at Rutgers University, where the original generation of the technology was developed. Solidia has licensed numerous patents from Rutgers. Collaborative research efforts are also underway in laboratories at Purdue University, Ohio University, and the University of South Florida. The strength and durability of Solidia Concrete has been verified according to ASTM and AASHTO specification by the CTLGroup.

Based in Piscataway, N.J. (USA), Solidia's honors include the Global Cleantech 100, the R&D Top 100 Award, the CCEMC Grand Challenge, the Katerva Award, MIT's Climate CoLab, and a 2014 Best Place to Work in NJ. Follow Solidia at www.solidiatech.com and on LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter: @SolidiaCO2.

About Solidia Technologies®

Solidia Technologies® makes it easy and profitable to use CO2 to create superior and sustainable building materials. Suitable for large- and small-scale applications, Solidia's patented technology starts with a sustainable cement, cures concrete with CO2 instead of water, reduces carbon emissions up to 70%, and recycles 60 to 100% of the water used in production. Using the same raw materials and existing equipment as traditional concretes, the resulting CO2-cured concrete products are higher performing, cost less to produce, and cure in less than 24 hours. Based in Piscataway, N.J. (USA), Solidia's investors include Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, Bright Capital, BASF, BP, Lafarge, Total Energy Ventures, Bill Joy and other private investors. Follow Solidia Technologies at www.solidiatech.com and on LinkedIn, YouTube and Twitter: @SolidiaCO2.