Twelve, the carbon transformation company, is announcing $130 million in Series B and additional funding to scale the engineering, manufacturing, and deployment of its industrial-scale carbon transformation technology for the creation of a wide range of products with a lower carbon footprint.
Twelve’s carbon transformation technology converts captured CO2 into products historically made from fossil fuels. According to research from Columbia’s SIPA Center on Global Energy Policy, replacing fossil feedstocks in the production of chemicals, materials, and fuels with renewable carbon from point source or direct air capture could avoid nearly 10 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Twelve is currently transforming emissions into products for the automotive, household and apparel industries, as well as for government entities and global technology companies, by replacing petrochemicals and fossil-based transportation fuels with CO2Made® materials and carbon-neutral fuels like E-JetⓇ.
“Companies and governments no longer need to rely on fossil fuels for the carbon that goes into everything from apparel and cleaning products to electronics and jet fuel. This fresh funding ensures we can reach industrial scale to help new and existing partners achieve rapid emissions-reduction.”
Twelve Co-Founder and CEO Nicholas Flanders
Twelve’s partners include Mercedes-Benz, Procter & Gamble, Shopify, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administrationand the U.S. Air Force, all of which use Twelve’s breakthrough carbon transformation technology to reduce emissions and create CO2Made products.
“As more companies and organizations adopt carbon-neutrality targets, they urgently need technologies like Twelve’s to rapidly green supply chains and corporate travel to reduce emissions at scale,” said Zachary Bogue, Managing Partner, DCVC. “Since leading Twelve’s seed round in 2018, we’ve only become more confident that their technology offers businesses a critical solution for not just offsetting emissions, but eliminating them.”
The new funding follows Twelve’s first commercial products, a line of CO2Made sunglasses with sustainable fashion brand PANGAIA, and carbon-neutral sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), E-Jet. Twelve was recently recognized by Fast Company as the world’s #1 most innovative energy company of 2022 and as a BloombergNEF Pioneer in the Decarbonizing Aviation category.
“Delivering low-carbon sustainable products consumers desire will require scaling innovative solutions such as Twelve’s carbon transformation technology.” said Todd Cline, Senior Director of Sustainability, for Procter & Gamble Fabric Care. “We’re glad to see Twelve given the opportunity to expand their opportunity to impact a broad variety of sustainable consumer products enabled by their technology.”
“Twelve has the potential to disrupt petrochemical supply chains by creating a wide range of materials from carbon emissions instead of fossil fuels,” said Udo Gayer, Manager of New Business in Production Planning at Mercedes-Benz Cars. “The potential impact of their technology is immense, and I’m glad to see them receive the funding to continue scaling their technology.”
DCVC led Twelve’s Series B financing, with participation from Series A lead investors Capricorn Technology Impact Fund and Carbon Direct Capital Management. Breakout Ventures, Munich Re Ventures, Elementum Ventures, and Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund also participated. In addition, Twelve secured a Series B and strategic program investment from the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI).
“Carbon transformation has the potential to turn CO2 from a harmful waste stream into useful products for the global economy,” said Jonathan Goldberg, CEO of Carbon Direct. "With the costs of carbon capture, renewables and electrolyzers continuing to fall, Twelve’s technology stands to play a crucial role in decarbonizing some of the hardest-to-abate industries.”
To help drive Twelve’s industrial scaleup, the company just announced additions of key industry veterans to its leadership team: Anne Roby, Independent Board Director and former Linde executive; David Frank, Chief Productization Officer and former Cummins director; and Ram Ramprasad, Chief Commercial Officer and former Linde executive.
About Twelve
Twelve is the carbon transformation company, a new kind of chemical company built for the climate era. We make essential products from air, not oil. Our groundbreaking technology eliminates emissions by transforming CO2 into critical chemicals, materials and fuels that today are made from fossil fuels. We call it carbon transformation, and it fundamentally changes how we can address climate change, reduce emissions and reverse the carbon imbalance. Reinventing what it means to be a chemical company, we’re on a mission to create a climate positive world and a fossil free future through the power of chemistry.