Backed Rondo Energy — industrial heat battery storing renewable electricity as high-temperature heat
Breakthrough Energy Ventures backed Rondo Energy, which developed a heat battery that stores intermittent renewable electricity — including solar — as high-temperature thermal energy in firebricks, then delivers the heat on demand to industrial processes that currently rely on fossil fuel combustion. Industrial heat accounts for roughly 20% of global greenhouse gas emissions and has been extremely difficult to electrify directly. Rondo's technology enables solar and wind power to decarbonize cement kilns, food processing, paper mills, and chemical plants that require continuous high-temperature heat.
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Related Accomplishments
March 2025
Breakthrough Energy Ventures Invests in Savor — Butter Made Directly from Carbon
Breakthrough Energy Ventures backed Savor, a startup that produces butter using carbon dioxide and hydrogen — derived from atmospheric carbon and water — without any conventional agriculture, animals, or farmland. Savor's thermochemical process generates saturated fat with an identical molecular profile to dairy butter while using an estimated 99.9 percent less water and zero agricultural land. The product launched at Michelin-starred restaurants in 2025, with supermarket availability targeted for 2027, as part of Gates's broader bet on food-system decarbonisation.
2024
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst Invests $40 Million in Deep Sky Carbon Removal
Breakthrough Energy Catalyst — Gates's industrial decarbonisation investment vehicle — committed $40 million to Deep Sky, a Quebec-based company developing commercial direct air capture facilities across Canada. The investment marked Catalyst's first in the DAC sector. Deep Sky's Alpha facility in Alberta is designed as a testing ground for multiple next-generation carbon removal technologies, with the goal of proving the cost trajectory needed to make DAC viable at planetary scale.
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