Holcim Backs CO2-to-Rock Startup 44.01 in Push for Inland Storage

Holcim has put money into Oman-based carbon sequestration startup 44.01, deepening a commercial relationship that started with a pilot at the cement producer's Fujairah plant in the UAE and now targets inland carbon storage across Holcim's global operations.

The deal, announced today, follows a string of recent commitments to 44.01. Japan's largest power generation company, JERA, has also invested — the startup's first backing from the power sector — alongside additional funding from existing investors ALIAD, Air Liquide's venture capital arm, and Climate Investment. The new capital comes on top of an $11.7 million carbon removal offtake deal signed in October with Frontier buyers including Google, H&M, Shopify and Stripe.

How does the technology work?

44.01, founded in 2020, eliminates CO2 captured from the air or from hard-to-abate industrial processes by turning it into rock. Its process accelerates natural CO2 mineralization. Captured CO2 gets dissolved in water, creating an acidic solution that mobilizes cations within rock, which then react with the CO2 and mineralize it. The fluid is injected deep underground, where high pressure, temperature and CO2 concentration drive rapid mineralization.

The result is permanent underground storage — no long-term monitoring of gaseous CO2 required.

For Holcim, the appeal is geological flexibility. Storage can happen close to production where the right rock formations exist, which matters for cement sites far from offshore injection infrastructure.

What's already running?

The investment builds on a pilot project at Holcim's Fujairah cement plant in the UAE, announced in December 2025. That project operates under live industrial conditions: it captures CO2 emissions directly from cement production and sends them underground for permanent mineralized storage. It's a working demonstration, not a lab bench.

Holcim says the new investment aligns with its NextGen Growth 2030 strategy to scale low-carbon technologies across the construction sector, and supports the UAE's Net Zero 2050 pathway.

Ram Muthu, Head of Operational Excellence at Holcim, framed the logic plainly:

"44.01's breakthrough technology enables storage close to production given the right geological conditions, advancing decarbonization in line with Holcim's NextGen Growth 2030 strategy. This pathway can help us manage captured carbon at inland sites across our operations where access to offshore storage may be limited."

That's the crux for cement: most capture pathways assume pipelines and offshore geological storage, which inland plants can't easily reach.

What does the money signal?

44.01 CEO Talal Hasan said:

"We're delighted to have Holcim and JERA backing 44.01. Both understand the challenges of industrial decarbonisation and the need for practical, scalable solutions. Their investment is a strong endorsement as we move towards commercial-scale operations and bring our technology to new markets around the world."

JERA's participation opens a second hard-to-abate front: power generation. Air Liquide's continued exposure through ALIAD keeps an industrial gases player at the table. And the Frontier offtake — $11.7 million from four major corporate buyers — gives 44.01 demand-side revenue to pair with its equity backing.

Neither company disclosed the size of Holcim's or JERA's investment.

What happens next?

The milestones to watch are concrete. The Fujairah pilot needs to convert into a commercial-scale storage operation under the Holcim relationship. The Frontier offtake deliveries need to start. And 44.01's international expansion — now funded by cement, power and industrial gas money — needs to land its first projects outside Oman and the UAE.

The UAE's Net Zero 2050 target and Holcim's 2030 strategy set the clocks.