We build and invest in breakthrough technologies across three focus areas which have been selected on the basis of disproportionate climate impact, limited or no currently existing commercial solutions and alignment with UCLA’s/ ICM’s areas of expertise and ability to add value.
Heavy industries like cement and steel account for a third of our CO2 emissions. These emissions are “hard-to-abate”. They can only be partially mitigated through existing commercial technologies like renewable electricity as they arise from process emissions and high-temperature heat. We focus on breakthrough technologies and start-ups which enable deep decarbonization of these emissions.
The concentration of CO2 in our atmosphere has reached a terrifying level of 420 ppm. This is the highest it has been in the past 1 million years. Earth’s natural carbon removal processes cannot be removed at the pace needed to limit global warming and climate change. We focus on pioneering technologies and start-ups that remove carbon from the atmosphere in a scalable, low-cost, durable, and verifiable way.
The global energy systems are undergoing a massive transition, which will see trillions of dollars being invested in new energy technologies like renewables, green hydrogen, electric vehicles, and the enabling infrastructure. This transition will lead to a mani-fold increase in demand for critical minerals like Lithium, Nickel, Cobalt and other rare earths. We are currently focusing on extracting these from industrial wastes and abundant geological feedstock in a cost-effective and environmentally sustainable manner, with many other areas in the pipeline.
Our portfolio consists of companies we have previously spun out, companies we are in the process of spinning out, and earlier-stage projects across our three focus areas.
Carbonbuilt makes ultra-low-carbon concrete which is based on their Carbon XPRIZE-winning technology which reduces concrete’s carbon footprint by 70% to over 100% without compromising product performance or plant operations — and at the same cost.
Concrete AI uses an award-winning AI-powered tool to help concrete producers optimize their mix design to reduce the cost and embodied carbon without compromising its performance and strength.
Nextli is a stealth mode company in the space of cement and concrete decarbonization.
Multiple projects to help decarbonize cement, concrete and the construction industry.
Equatic has developed a novel seawater electrolysis process for carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the atmosphere with the production of green hydrogen at the lowest costs.
x/44 is a low-cost, modular, electrochemical direct air capture technology for atmospheric direct air capture.
Multiple technologies for removal of CO2 from the atmosphere.
SpecifX is a direct lithium extraction (DLE) company which uses a novel approach to extract lithium from waste brines at the lowest cost and a minimal environmental footprint.
Various innovative technologies to extract critical minerals like Li, Ni and Co from industrial wastes and abundant geological feedstock at low costs.
ICM provides a unique blend of value propositions which can enable deep-tech (or research-heavy) early stage start-ups or research groups across our three themes to de-risk and accelerate their commercialization.
