Denmark-headed Novo Holdings A/S (Novo Holdings) and US-headed LanzaTech Inc., a pioneer in the production of next-generation fuels and chemicals through the recycling of carbon dioxide (CO2), have announced that they have formed a partnership to grow LanzaTech’s revolutionary sustainable fuels and chemicals platform. Novo Holdings is making a US$72 million investment in the company in a Series E financing, and Senior Director Anders Bendsen Spohr will join LanzaTech’s Board of Directors.
Novo Holdings A/S is a private limited liability company wholly owned by the Novo Nordisk Foundation. It is the holding company of the Novo Group, comprising Novo Nordisk A/S and Novozymes A/S, and is responsible for managing the Foundation’s assets. As part of its mandate, Novo Holdings provides seed and venture capital to development-stage companies, takes significant ownership positions in high growth and well-established companies within life science, and manages a broad portfolio of financial assets.
According to a statement, the transaction underlines Novo Holdings’ increasing focus on investing in market-leading bio-industrial companies with the ability to have a long-term sustainable impact on society through innovative technologies. Additionally, the investment in LanzaTech marks Novo Holdings’ fourth investment within the growth equity area this year.
Growth equity investments enable Novo Holdings to support companies at the forefront of transformative technologies, fueling transitions that will take companies to the next level of development.
LanzaTech is addressing our collective need for sustainable fuels and materials, enabling industrial players to be part of building a truly circular economy. Novo Holdings’ investment underlines our commitment to supporting the bio-industrials sector and, in particular, companies that are developing cutting-edge technology platforms. We are excited to work with the LanzaTech team and look forward to supporting the company in its next phase of growth, said Anders Bendsen Spohr, Senior Director at Novo Holdings.
LanzaTech’s biotechnology platform takes gaseous carbon pollution and recycles it, eliminating single-use carbon. Examples of the uses of the technology include taking steel mill emissions in China and unsorted, unrecyclable household waste in Japan and converting these wastes to ethanol, sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) or polyethylene for consumer goods.
When a product has reached the end of its useful life, it can go unsorted and uncleaned to a LanzaTech facility and be recycled repeatedly without losing any of the properties of the original material. This locks carbon into a cycle and supports a transition to a circular economy.
The announced investment will expand LanzaTech’s carbon recycling platform and enable LanzaTech to accelerate the commercialization of “Carbon Smart” products allowing consumers to choose where the carbon in their products come from, recycled carbon or fossil carbon.
We are delighted with the investment from Novo Holdings, a visionary company and team focused on creating long-term value while making a positive impact. This comes at a critical time for the health of our planet. We no longer need to debate whether climate change is real. We need to mobilize all sustainable solutions to create a future free of carbon pollution. Novo Holdings’ investment and experience in the industrial biotechnology space, will allow LanzaTech to continue to create a Carbon Smart world, with clean blue skies and blue oceans for all, commented Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech.
