Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) Group announced that it has invested in Cemvita Factory, Inc. (Cemvita), a Houston-based startup that utilizes innovative synthetic biology to decarbonize heavy industries such as chemical manufacturing, mining, and oil and gas. By investing in Cemvita’s business expansion, MHI continues to deliver on its strategy to identify and accelerate decarbonization opportunities through investments in renewable projects and climate tech startups.
MHI Group is committed to building an innovative solutions ecosystem to realize a carbon-neutral future. This includes strengthening its decarbonization technology offerings and developing a carbon dioxide (CO2) ecosystem that is central to those initiatives. Carbon capture, utilization and storage solutions are increasingly viewed as effective means to realizing a carbon-neutral society, and Cemvita’s technology is one of many solutions needed to achieve it.
“At MHI we are committed to accelerating decarbonization. We believe there is not only one technology to be utilized, but that it is necessary to combine multiple technologies to achieve our world’s carbon net-zero goals,” said Yoshihiro Shiraiwa, President and CEO of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America. “We must work closely with new and existing partners to develop new business models that advance our goals for decarbonization.”
Cemvita provides innovative CO2 utilization solutions through biotechnology for heavy industries. Its bio-manufacturing platform mitigates emissions from traditionally energy-intensive chemical and catalytic conversion processes by operating under ambient temperature and pressure. Additionally, this same technology can turn polymer production into a low-carbon activity by utilizing CO2 as a feedstock, a crucial step in building a circular carbon economy.
“We are excited to have Cemvita supported by strong corporate partners like MHI, who has extensive engineering capabilities across heavy industry markets,” said Cemvita Factory Co-Founder and CEO Moji Karimi. “This capital will accelerate our growth and scale our carbon negative solutions to fight climate change.”
The investment has been executed through Mitsubishi Heavy Industries America, Inc. MHI joins a consortium of investors, including Energy Capital Ventures and Sumitomo Corporation of America.