Carbon Removal Start-Up Planetary Technologies Announces $7.8M in Funding, Offer of 3,000 Carbon Credits

Planetary's proprietary accelerated carbon removal technology stores carbon in the ocean, while restoring ocean health and creating green hydrogen

Planetary Technologies, the first climate technology company to remove carbon using direct ocean capture while creating renewable fuel and restoring ocean damage from climate change, today (March 18, 2022) announced it has raised $7.8 million CAD. Planetary closed pre-seed and seed funding rounds at $4.2 million and received $3.6 million CAD through grant funding. Major investors include Innovacorp and Apollo Projects.

Planetary will use the funding to build pilot facilities to deploy its proprietary carbon transition technology, which speeds up the earth's natural process of removing carbon from the air and safely storing it in the ocean, the largest natural carbon sink on earth's surface.

Founded in 2019, Planetary — formerly Planetary Hydrogen — is led by an international team of engineers and scientists that has developed a process to safely purify alkaline rocks remaining after mining, then add the alkalinity to the ocean, which rapidly enhances the ocean's natural ability to draw carbon from the atmosphere at industrial-scale. The purifying of mining rock creates hydrogen, which can be used as a clean fuel. The additional alkalinity in the ocean also locally restores the damage caused by increased acidification due to climate change.

"The global community agrees that we need a three-pronged approach to stop the harmful effects of climate change — adapt, reduce emissions and remove carbon — and Planetary's process does all three while removing massive amounts of carbon dioxide from the air," said Mike Kelland, Planetary CEO. "Carbon removal will be a trillion-dollar industry by 2050, and Planetary is leading the way by creating a safe, scalable and natural solution to slow climate change and even reverse some of the damage already done."

Planetary's approach to ocean carbon dioxide removal is unique in the following ways.

• Carbon dioxide is removed from the atmosphere up to gigaton scale and sequestered for thousands of years.
• By essentially giving the ocean an antacid, the process helps heal local marine ecosystems harmed by climate change, improving natural growth in animals like coral and shellfish, leading to a better functioning food chain and a healthier regional economy.
• Planetary's process also creates green hydrogen as a by-product, which can be burned without carbon emissions, allowing carbon-challenged industries to limit their use of fossil fuel.
• It also extracts metals from mine waste that can be used in batteries, another important tool for a future low-carbon economy.

This new funding will support the launch of Planetary's pilot plants in Quebec and Nova Scotia, which will demonstrate a scaled version of its patented carbon removal process. The pilot plants will come online in phases beginning later this year and will be integrated with a major ocean research project to monitor the chemical and organism effects, and fine-tune Planetary's process.

Planetary is currently selling 3,000 carbon credits with retirement dates of 2025 -2027. The company has previously pre-sold carbon offsets to e-commerce company Shopify based on negative emissions generated by Planetary's pilot plant later this year.

"At full-scale, Planetary's technology will be a game-changer in addressing this crisis," said Stacy Kauk, director of Shopify's Sustainability Fund. "We are confident in Planetary's trajectory and believe their work offers incredible opportunities for companies seeking meaningful climate action to advance their own ESG journeys."

Planetary's academic research partners include the University of Dalhousie and University of Miami Basico2 project, an XPRIZE Carbon Removal Student Award Winner. Based on the research of biogeochemist and Planetary chief technology officer Greg Rau, Planetary's carbon dioxide removal technology accelerates the earth's natural cycle, pulling carbon from the air and storing it as a natural component of ocean chemistry for up to 100,000 years.

"Our technology has created a way for businesses to genuinely remove carbon from the atmosphere and speed their transition to net-zero," said Brock Battochio, Planetary co-founder and lead engineer. "By providing the additional benefits of green fuels and restoring ocean health, our technology offers far greater value and impact to climate-focused companies."

Planetary is also supplying services to support Brazilian Nickel PLC, a UK-based sustainable nickel and cobalt mining company in its effort to reduce emissions. Using technology similar to its work in ocean capture, Planetary is developing a process to capture carbon emissions released from the processing plant before emissions reach the atmosphere.

"Everywhere we operate, we're committed to helping create stronger, more sustainable communities and Planetary is helping us do that," said Anne Oxley, technical director at Brazilian Nickel PLC. "We're excited to grow this innovative work with them and take meaningful action against climate change."

Planetary has been recognized for its leadership in climate technology, receiving the OceanShot award from the Ocean Startup Project. The United Nations' Blue Climate Initiative named Planetary as a semi-finalist for its Ocean Innovation Prize. Foresight Canada calls Planetary one of the most investable cleantech ventures. Planetary co-founder Brock Battochio was also named to Forbes' 2022 30 under 30 Energy List.

About Planetary Technologies
Planetary Technologies, Inc is a carbon removal leader and innovator headquartered in Nova Scotia, Canada. Planetary's Accelerated Carbon Transition platform is a patented process that creates effective carbon removal at a gigaton-scale and reduces emissions through a clean alternative to fossil fuels. The company's platform results in clean hydrogen, permanently sequestered carbon through Ocean Air Capture, and ocean de-acidification. Planetary is a graduate of the Start-Up Yard at COVE accelerator managed by Innovacorp, was a member for the first Carbon to Value Initiative cohort and is currently enrolled in Creative Destruction Lab's 2022 ocean cohort.

For more information, please contact:
Chris Wilson
cwilson@cplusc.com

March 18, 2022, Halifax, Nova Scotia