Calgary Startup Gets $1M to Make Cement 85% Cleaner

Cement is everywhere around us, but making it creates massive carbon emissions that warm our planet. Now a Calgary startup has landed $1 million to change that.

CURA Climate received the funding from NorthX Climate Tech to scale up technology that cuts cement production emissions by up to 85%. The company uses an electrochemical process to make zero-carbon lime while capturing pure CO₂ for permanent storage.

What makes this solution especially promising is how practical it is. CURA's technology retrofits directly into existing cement and lime plants without requiring new supply chains or major process changes. That means facilities can start cleaning up their operations without rebuilding from scratch.

The company was one of four Canadian cleantech innovators to receive funding this week, part of a $3 million investment round also supporting ShiftX Technologies, Kinitics, and Hydron Energy. All four companies are developing solutions for high-emitting industrial sectors.

"Decarbonizing lime and cement is one of the hardest challenges in the industrial energy transition," says Erin Bobicki, CURA's CEO. The new funding will help the company accelerate pilot deployment and validate its technology at commercial scale.

Canada is positioning itself as a leader in industrial decarbonization, the process of removing carbon emissions from manufacturing and heavy industry. These aren't just environmental wins but economic opportunities that create jobs while cleaning up operations.

The Ripple Effect

NorthX Climate Tech has already deployed nearly $60 million across more than 80 projects since its 2021 founding. That investment has sparked hundreds of new jobs and attracted over $600 million in follow-on funding from other sources.

The organization focuses on what it calls "hard tech" solutions, the kind of complex innovations needed to transform major industries. Sarah Goodman, NorthX's CEO, believes British Columbia and Canada are uniquely positioned to lead this global shift.

CURA's approach tackles a genuinely difficult problem. Cement production accounts for about 8% of global CO₂ emissions, making it one of the largest industrial contributors to climate change. Finding cost-competitive ways to produce it cleanly could reshape construction worldwide.

The company's electrochemical method processes limestone through "pre-calcination carbon capture," a technique that prevents emissions before they happen rather than trying to capture them afterward. It's a smarter approach to a stubborn problem.

As pilot projects move forward, CURA is proving that building a thriving economy and reducing emissions aren't opposing goals. They're two sides of the same coin, especially when innovation makes clean solutions cost-competitive with traditional methods.