Bill Gates' Company Awards $40 Million Grant to Carbon Capture Initiative Deep Sky

Investing.com -- Breakthrough Energy, a clean technology venture firm founded by Bill Gates, has granted a $40 million grant to the carbon capture initiative Deep Sky Corp. The Montreal-based company aims to establish large-scale facilities to remove carbon from the atmosphere, a critical step in mitigating the risks of extreme climate change.

Deep Sky Corp., led by CEO Frederic Lalonde, who heads Hopper Inc., one of Canada’s most valuable technology companies, plans to provide services for the removal and underground storage of millions of tons of CO2.

Funds from Breakthrough Energy's Catalyst program will be allocated to the construction of Deep Sky's first facility in Innisfail, Alberta. This facility, which requires an investment exceeding CAD 100 million ($70 million), will test and identify promising technologies before expanding. Additional potential storage projects are planned in Quebec.

Deep Sky expects to commence operations and offer carbon removal credits by 2025. In November, the company announced that it sold credits to Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Corp. and Royal Bank of Canada, although financial details were not disclosed.

Together with Breakthrough, Deep Sky has raised over CAD 130 million from various sources, including Bank of Montreal, National Bank of Canada, Whitecap Venture Partners, BrightSpark Ventures, the venture arm of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, the Quebec government, and others. The initiative has also formed partnerships with several direct air capture companies, such as London-based Mission Zero Technologies Ltd., to test its technologies.

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