Gates-Backed Fund Invests in Carbon Capture Startup From MIT

A Massachusetts-based startup that captures carbon dioxide directly from the air has raised $80 million from investors, including Bill Gates-led Breakthrough Energy Ventures.

Founded in 2019, Verdox Inc.’s technology is still only operable at lab scale. But Chief Executive Officer Brian Baynes says that a recent breakthrough with the key material used to trap the greenhouse gas has given investors confidence to invest such a large sum at an early stage in the startup’s development.

As the world gets serious about reaching net-zero emissions within decades, there’s growing interest in technologies that can permanently sequester CO₂ already in the atmosphere. Nature-based ...