Mizuho Bank Announces Investment in MCi Carbon Pty Ltd

Mizuho Bank is today announcing a USD 5,000,000 investment in MCi Carbon, an Australian clean technology company engaged in decarbonizing global industries by carbon dioxide capture and utilization (CCU) to help achieve a circular economy.

Mizuho Bank has begun operating a ‘Transition Investment Facility’ by committing equity investments towards seed or early-stage corporations to support the challenges Mizuho clients have in funding sustainability initiatives. Sharing both opportunity and risk through such investments, Mizuho Bank aims to co-create social value and contribute to the sustainability of the environment and society.

“With an investment from Mizuho Bank, it is evident that Japan’s banks and industries are future proofing their economies and securing strategic advantages for their partnerships and exports for the new circular carbon economy,” says MCi Carbon co-founder and CEO Marcus Dawe. “Japan has joined MCi on the race to net zero, and this is a call to other forward thinkers.”

MCi uses a chemical engineering process called mineral carbonation to create valuable inputs into building materials and other products using captured industrial emissions. Diverting carbon dioxide (CO₂) from entering the atmosphere, MCi technology reacts CO₂ from steel, cement, fertilizers, and mining facilities with mineral by-products of industrial processes, such as steel slag and mine tailings. MCi can create carbon neutral and negative emissions calcium and magnesium carbonates, amorphous silicas, and other inputs for a range of applications in the circular carbon economy.

The company has grown significantly in recent years, following the award of an AUD $14.6m Australian Federal government grant to build one of the world’s first mineral carbonation demonstration plants at Orica’s Kooragang Island manufacturing site, using mineral carbonation to prevent emissions from entering the atmosphere. In February 2023, MCi announced a multi-million dollar investment from RHI Magnesita, the world’s leader in refractories products, and signed up the Austrian company as its first global commercial customer.

Mizuho Bank recognises that development and social implementation of CCU technology is necessary to achieve carbon neutrality in hard-to-abate sectors and is therefore supportive of the CCU industry. Through the current investment and further support to develop MCi’s commercial pathway in Japan, Mizuho Bank aims to contribute to the decarbonization of hard-to-abate sectors as well as that of manufacturers which use materials made through the CCU process.

Mizuho Bank is committed to strengthening its sustainability-related efforts, including those related to responding to climate change and transitioning to a decarbonized society, to realize a sustainable society. Leveraging its knowledge and experience as a comprehensive financial services group, Mizuho is committed to contributing to its clients’ desires to improve corporate value and achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) via their financing and consulting functions.