Pond Technologies Announces $132 Million for Cleantech
A Canadian cleantech company has received a massive investment to spread their sustainable systems throughout the U.S.
Pond Technologies has announced $132 million in project funding from Connecticut-based Inventiv Capital Management. This comes in the form of a letter of intent to create and fund a special purpose vehicle meant to develop a diversified portfolio of projects using Pond Technologies’ specialized system.
The Toronto-based Pond Technologies created a device that can turn carbon dioxide (CO2) from almost any source into bioproducts, which have a range of uses. Businesses or plants that emit a lot of CO2 from central locations like smokestacks can use Pond technologies’ system to create algae which can then be turned into agriculture feed or even mixed into used oil sands to help fix the environment. It takes approximately two tonnes of CO2 to create one tonne of algae.
“We’re very happy to have Inventiv as a partner that shares our sustainability vision, and that has the resources to source projects, and finance our rapid growth,” said Steve Martin, CEO and founder of Pond technologies. “Inventiv understands the significant impact that our technology can have upon not only the reduction of greenhouse gases worldwide, but the conversion of those gases into valuable, sustainable algae products that can provide new sources of alternative proteins, fertilizer, fuels and other industrial applications, thereby providing solutions to multiple globally pressing issues.”
“We are a triple threat in terms of the positive impact we have,” Martin told Techvibes earlier this year. “We have the economics, the market need, and we are doing something incredibly environmental not just for us, but also the host plants we associate with.”
After sourcing different opportunities for the deployment of Pond Technologies’ systems, Inventiv will release funding on a project-by-project basis. Investments won’t be made in Pond Technologies directly and will not take equity from the company. In a sense, Inventiv is investing in sustainable infrastructure and innovation itself rather than taking a piece of the company that makes it. Pond Technologies is still able to scale immensely from an investment like this by producing and installing their tech around the U.S.
Inventiv foresees Pond Technologies’ systems to be placed at power plants and refineries within the U.S., as the capital organization invests only in U.S.-based infrastructure assets. They have planned to invest $600 million USD in other infrastructure assets over the next three years.
Pond Technologies went public earlier this year to the tune of a $47 million valuation, and this latest investment news saw stick prices rise 29 per cent for the Toronto company.