TITAN Cement Group launches Venture Capital initiative with investments in Zacua Ventures & Rondo Energy

TITAN Group has launched a Venture Capital initiative to foster innovation within the construction ecosystem. Through this initiative, the group aims to invest up to $40 million in the medium term and forge partnerships to bolster its growth strategy.
Quarry Products / July 25, 2023
By Guy Woodford
Titan's Kamari cement plant in Viotia, Greece. Pic: Yannis Kontos

To gain early exposure to disruptive technologies, TITAN has invested in Zacua Ventures, an early-stage global venture fund focused on sustainable construction and the Built Environment. Also, TITAN has expanded its investment in Rondo Energy, a US-based pioneer in zero-carbon industrial heat solutions. These investments align with TITAN's objectives of integrating innovative products, services, and materials into its operations and solutions offering, driving growth and competitiveness, and accelerating its sustainability and digitalisation goals.

Leonidas Canellopoulos, TITAN Group's Chief Sustainability and Innovation Officer, commented: "We are committed to embracing innovation and fresh perspectives. By engaging with ConTech and GreenTech startups through direct and indirect investments and collaborations, we intend to forge more partnerships in the sector."

TITAN's investment in Zacua Ventures stems from a shared vision of sustainability in construction. The development of pioneer, zero-carbon building materials, the optimisation and automation of manufacturing processes, and the capitalisation on Construction 4.0 capabilities are just a few examples of joint interest to TITAN and Zacua Ventures. The partnership enables TITAN to connect with Zacua' s portfolio companies, gaining access to innovative technologies and insights into emerging trends. On the other hand, the portfolio companies benefit from TITAN's expertise, resources, and customer networks and support in scaling up production and distribution.

TITAN's increased support for Rondo underscores its commitment to next-generation heat production solutions as part of its net zero strategy. The partnership will focus on developing industrial decarbonisation concepts, including cement manufacturing. TITAN will contribute its deep industry knowledge and sustainable and digital manufacturing expertise. Rondo will bring its unique innovation in industrial decarbonisation and contribute to a robust global partner ecosystem. 

Rondo's Heat Battery technology is central to this partnership. The technology captures renewable energy to produce continuous high-temperature heat, significantly reducing emissions from fossil fuel consumption. As a result, the Rondo Heat Battery can become a critical component of novel energy-intensive processes for decarbonisation, such as carbon capture, green hydrogen generation and conversion of captured CO₂. The Rondo Heat Battery has a high scalability potential that is cost-competitive to current energy storage methods, exhibiting twice the efficiency of hydrogen at less than half the cost.

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