In California, startup NovoNutrients has raised $9 million to advance its technology that converts carbon dioxide into animal-free proteins.
Roughly half the funds came from new investors Happiness Capital, E2JDJ and Marinya Capital and existing investors IndieBio and Grantham Environmental Trust. Approximately $4.3 million came from non-dilutive funding sources. NovoNutrients says it will use the cash to finish piloting the technology.
“Non-dilutive project funding from corporate partners, including a Catalyst Grant from Chevron Technology Ventures, is a critical accelerator,” vice president of Strategic Partnerships at NovoNutrients, Kumiko Yoshinari, said in a press statement. “By building NovoNutrients facilities at commercial scale on the industrial sites where CO2 and hydrogen are generated, we will be able to trial the technology with new partners. We could enter joint ventures or license the technology, which we’ve already done. That allows us to scale without making heavy capital investments.”
NovoNutrients’ technology uses microbes to convert CO2 and hydrogen into protein flours, which can be used in both human food and animal feeds.