PINE BROOK, N.J., April 30, 2025 – Queens Carbon, a developer of next-generation cement technology, announced it has secured $10 million in seed funding to scale its platform for energy-efficient cement and supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs). The round was led by Clean Energy Ventures with participation from Plug and Play and Clean Energy Venture Group. Buzzi Unicem USA, a subsidiary of Buzzi S.p.A., one of the world’s leading cement producers, also joined as a strategic investor and development partner. Queens Carbon plans to leverage the funding and partnership to expand its team and operations, construct a 2,000 tons per year demonstration pilot facility, and prepare for a full-scale, first-of-a-kind commercial plant.

While the expansive growth in housing and infrastructure has led to a surge in demand for cement and SCMs, increasingly complex global supply chains are jeopardizing the rapid expansion of American manufacturing. To help cement producers meet the growing demand, Queens Carbon has developed an energy-efficient process to produce cost-competitive carbon-neutral cement supplementary products.

“An important step to securing America’s energy leadership is investing in companies that will broaden domestic manufacturing while reducing energy demand and cost in the most carbon-intensive sectors," said David Miller, Managing Partner and Co-Founder of Clean Energy Ventures. “Queens Carbon’s technology will not only safeguard the critical supply of cement for infrastructure but open up a new pathway for decarbonized industrial materials.”

Leveraging industry-standard, abundantly available raw materials, Queens Carbon enables cement producers to deliver decarbonized product solutions to their customers without a green premium. The technology is rooted in novel hydrothermal chemistry, leveraging steam and pressure to drive the key chemical reactions at half the temperature required for conventional cement production. The result is a low-energy, ASTM-compliant product and a pathway for producing high-performance cementitious materials.

Queens Carbon’s flagship product is a carbon-neutral SCM that replaces up to 50% of conventional cement in concrete. With a modular manufacturing process, Queens Carbon’s SCM product can be produced on-site at the cement plant, allowing seamless parallel integration with existing cement operations. As part of its product roadmap, Queens Carbon also plans to develop next-generation hydraulic cement to enable low-cost carbon capture and 100% replacement of traditional cement.

“At Buzzi, we know that achieving our goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 demands forward-thinking solutions to enhance both our operations and our environmental performance,” said Luigi Buzzi, Chief Technology Officer of Buzzi. “This pilot with Queens Carbon reflects that commitment—merging breakthrough technology with real-world application. By adopting new approaches and reimagining conventional methods, we're making meaningful progress on our journey to net zero.”

Queens Carbon plans to leverage the funding to double its team and hire additional systems and process engineers. The company will also move into an expanded facility and support the construction of a 2,000 tons per year pilot facility at Buzzi Unicem USA’s Stockertown plant in Pennsylvania – a key step in demonstrating cost-effective, carbon-neutral SCM production at industrial scale.

“Decarbonizing cement at scale while remaining cost-competitive requires first principles thinking, a world-class team, and the right financial and strategic partners,” said Daniel Kopp, CEO of Queens Carbon. “With support from Clean Energy Ventures, Buzzi Unicem USA and the US Department of Energy, we’re building next-generation technology and assembling the creative talent needed to drive industry revenues to move cement innovation forward and significantly reduce CO2 emissions from cement production, all without a green premium.”

This round brings Queens Carbon’s total funding to $30 million, following a $14.5 million grant awarded by ARPA-E in Fall 2024.

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About Queens Carbon
Carbon is pioneering breakthrough technology to produce high-quality carbon-neutral cementitious materials without a green premium to enable the cement industry to dramatically cut industrial CO2 emissions. Its patented manufacturing process uses steam and pressure to reduce the temperature of production to create Q-SCMs and Q-Cement efficiently with less energy. To learn more about Queens Carbon, please visit queenscarbon.com.

About Clean Energy Ventures
Clean Energy Ventures (CEV) advances global climate solutions by backing exceptional leadership teams and game-changing companies as they transform into market leaders capable of mitigating multiple gigatons of CO2e over the critical next three decades. The CEV team harnesses decades of energy and climate tech operational experience to actively accelerate the commercialization of our portfolio companies. Founded in 2017, CEV manages over $415 million in assets and has funded over 30 early-stage companies across North America, Europe, and Israel. For more information, visit cleanenergyventures.com.

(The above press release was distributed on April 30 by Queens Carbon.)

Media Contacts
Connie Zhang
Mission C2
connie@missionc2.com

Jenna Eckel
Buzzi Unicem USA
jenna.eckel@buzziunicemusa.com

At Buzzi, our company values—Respect and Openness, Reliability and Soundness, Continuous Evolution, Safety and Caring for Our People—are the foundation of everything we do. These are not just words but guiding principles that inspire and define our work each day.

To highlight their importance, we have created a video featuring colleagues from around the world. They share their experiences, illustrating how these values shape their decisions, guide their actions and help them navigate challenges in their roles. The impact of these principles on our shared success is powerful.

To watch the video and learn more about the meaning of each value, please click here.

Buzzi Unicem USA was recently honored with the 2024 BNSF Sustainability Award.
This annual award is given to companies demonstrating exceptional dedication in sustainable practices. Buzzi Unicem USA is proud to partner with BNSF Railway, working together to optimize operations and drive meaningful environmental impact. Our organization proudly continues to drive initiatives to reduce our CO2 emissions.

Read more about our company’s efforts and the other award winners here:

https://www.bnsf.com/ship-with-bnsf/sustainability-awards/index.html

On the World Day for Health and Safety at Work, Buzzi renews its commitment to ensuring a safe working environment for all its employees.

The health and safety of collaborators are absolute priorities and constitute the foundation of every activity. The company is dedicated to promoting a culture of safety that goes beyond compliance with regulations, to embrace a holistic approach that protects physical, mental and social life of all those who are part of our reality. Only through collective and continuous commitment it is possible to guarantee a safe, healthy and inclusive working environment for everyone.

In the last 6 months we have updated the Group policy by presenting it to the organization through new multimedia materials and workshops, facilitating interaction and sharing experiences to achieve the "Zero Accidents" goal.

Buzzi Unicem USA’s Chattanooga, TN and Festus, MO manufacturing facilities earned the EPA’s ENERGY STAR® certification, recognizing their superior energy performance among similar facilities in the industry.

Both plants have been recognized for their energy conservation and environmental protection efforts in the past. Chattanooga has received this honor for the 15^th consecutive year, while Festus has received the certification 13 out of the past 15 years. In meeting these strict qualifications, these facilities are saving energy, saving money, and helping protect the environment by using less energy than peer facilities.

For more than 20 years, EPA’s ENERGY STAR program has been America’s resource for saving energy and protecting the environment. Today, thousands of facility owners and managers use ENERGY STAR to improve the energy performance of their buildings and plants.

See below for the press release:

https://www.epa.gov/newsreleases/epa-announces-most-energy-efficient-manufacturing-plants-2023