US-based green steel-producing company Boston Metal has generated $262m at the close of its Series C investment round.
Aramco Ventures, M&G Investments, Goehring & Rozencwajg and Baillie Gifford were among the new investors in the round.
Current investor Breakthrough Energy Ventures also took part in the fundraiser, while others including Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund, BHP Ventures and Prelude Ventures infused more capital.
The Series C round previously involved ArcelorMittal, World Bank’s IFC and SiteGround Capital.
Boston Metal will use the proceeds from this round to expedite the deployment of its metals business, commercially demonstrate its molten oxide electrolysis (MOE) platform for sustainable steel production and expand its headcount worldwide.
The metals and mining sectors are facing significant pressure to shift to green production methods and to enhance efficiency and profitability. Boston Metal is developing a scalable technology platform, where electricity is used to produce a variety of metals and alloys from a wide variety of feedstocks.
Its MOE process is said to be a simpler and more efficient model with a low environmental impact compared with traditional methods.
The process can help create new streams of revenue for mining companies to extract high-value metals from complex, low-concentration materials, which at present are treated as waste.
By using renewable electricity, MOE can eliminate scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions from steelmaking, which currently drive nearly 10% of global carbon dioxide emissions.
Compared with other green steel solutions that are dependent on scarce high-grade iron ores, the MOE technology can produce liquid steel from abundant medium- and low-grade iron ores.
Boston Metal chairman and CEO Tadeu Carneiro said: “Boston Metal’s success in raising capital from diverse sources spanning private equity, venture capital, institutional investors and strategic investors demonstrates robust confidence in Boston Metal’s ability to transform steel and metals production for a sustainable future.
“We continue to make significant progress on the scale-up of MOE for green steel production at our pilot plant outside of Boston.”
The company claims to be on track to produce its high-value metals next year and expects to bring its MOE process to the market by 2026.
