Circularity Fuels raised a US$7 million Seed round led by Trucks and DCVC. Sum Ventures and Automotive Ventures also participated. The Redwood City company turns raw dairy biogas into sustainable aviation fuel.
Use of funds
The round funds an 18-month push from lab proof to a commercial blueprint. Circularity will run a demonstration plant that produces jet fuel from biogas every day. It will also complete the engineering design for a 75-barrel-per-day commercial plant and secure airline fuel contracts.
Company and funding history
Circularity has now raised about US$17 million in total. This includes nearly US$7 million in grants from ARPA-E and the National Science Foundation. Dr. Stephen Beaton, former Lab Chief of the U.S. Air Force Petroleum Office, founded the company.
How the fuel is made
Circularity's modular systems pair an electrified Ouro reforming reactor with an Aion Fischer-Tropsch synthesis reactor. They produce sustainable aviation fuel directly at the feedstock source. In June, the company completed a six-month pilot at a dairy near Madera, California.
The USDA has advanced Circularity's application to Phase 2 of its review for a Section 9003 loan guarantee. The company will also begin licensing the technology behind the Ouro reactor to partners that want to build plants. It projects commercial capital costs at roughly one-fifth those of jet fuel plants now under construction in Europe.