CONSTRUCTION VEERS GREEN: Smart money is banking on a Triangle firm's biology-based cement.

• Author: Gentry, Connie

Whether you're a science nerd or a finance geek, Biomason is a North Carolina startup worth watching as it uses biology to produce cement.

Biomason predicts its proprietary technology can eliminate 25% of global carbon emissions from the concrete industry by 2030. Investors bought in to the tune of $65 million in venture capital funding in February 2022. It was among the state's biggest venture capital investments last year, on par with the $70 million raised by Morrisville-based JupiterOne, which creates cybersecurity software.

Biomason had previously raised about $10 million since its inception in 2012. Its continued development caught the attention of lead investor 2150, a London-based venture capital company that says on its website that it backs entrepreneurs who "have suspended our disbelief in a sustainable future built on cuttingedge technology innovation that is sometimes hard to imagine."

Three companies tied to North Carolina are also investors: Zebulon-based Noel Ventures owns engineered-foam product maker Nomaco; Raleigh-based Martin Marietta is one of the biggest U.S. aggregates companies with $6.1 billion in revenue last year; and Novo Floldings, the investment arm of Danish biotech giant Novo Nordisk, which has major Triangle plants.

After water, concrete is the most-consumed material on earth, with roughly 30 billion tons of concrete--requiring roughly 4 billion tons of cement--consumed per year. In terms of environmental impact, 2150 reports the cement industry is responsible for as much as 8% of all global CO2 emissions.

That makes Biomason CEO Ginger Krieg Dosier and her biocement, which is grown from microorganisms, a potential game-changer for overcoming climate adversity in the construction sector. The company employs about 100 people and has a production plant in Durham of about 10,000 square feet.

"Given its trillion-dollar scale and continued global use, cement and concrete decarbonization represents both a massive business opportunity as well as possibly one of the most actionable and scalable methods for reducing...