Amazon co-invests with Holcim in innovative startups for sustainable building

Holcim and Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund are investing together in innovative startups 14Trees and Paebbl to advance sustainable building.
Quarry Products / October 9, 2024
By Guy Woodford
Paebbl converts CO₂ into a future-proof industrial raw material that turns the built environment into a permanent carbon store. Pic: Paebbl

The funding into 14Trees by Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund, alongside a follow-on investment by Holcim into its 3D printing joint venture with British International Investment (BII), will accelerate the startup's construction of large-scale buildings, including low-carbon data centres. The investment into Paebbl as part of a broader investment round will scale up the startup's advanced mineralization technology, designed to permanently store CO₂ in concrete as a carbon sink. 

Nollaig Forrest, Holcim chief sustainability officer, said: "By investing with Amazon's Climate Pledge Fund into 14Trees and Paebbl, we can scale up these pioneering technologies to push the boundaries of sustainable building, from 3D printing to making concrete a carbon sink." 

14Trees
Established in 2016, 14Trees is a joint venture between Holcim and BII to accelerate the provision of sustainable construction solutions in Africa. Pic: 14Trees

Francois Perrot, managing director of 14Trees, said: "We are excited to count Amazon and Holcim as investors in 14 Trees, to take our successful 3D-printed technology from homes and schools to data centers, to deliver low-carbon and high-performance buildings." 

Marta Sjögren, co-founder and co-CEO of Paebbl, said: "We are thrilled to welcome first movers in their respective fields, Amazon and Holcim, as first commercial partners to bring our vision to market. This funding round enables us to take even bolder steps in our mission to make the built environment a cornerstone of the decarbonised economy." 

14Trees was established in 2016 as a joint venture between Holcim and BII to accelerate the provision of sustainable construction solutions in Africa. The company has pioneered the delivery of the first 3D-printed house in Africa, the world's first 3D-printed schools, and one of the largest 3D-printed neighborhoods on the planet. 

Paebbl converts CO₂ into a future-proof industrial raw material that turns the built environment into a permanent carbon store. The company was founded in 2021 by serial founders Andreas Saari and Jane Walerud, applied researcher and mineralization veteran Pol Knops, and former venture capitalist Marta Sjögren.    

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