CarbiCrete is a Montreal-based carbon removal company that develops construction technology solutions to reduce emissions and embodied carbon in the built environment.
The process uses an industrial by-product – the slag from steel factories – to replace cement as a binding ingredient in concrete products. The process injects CO2 into the fresh concrete to provide strength, while permanently sequestering CO2 within the resulting products.
The company’s core products are cement-free, decarbonized concrete masonry units (CMUs) available through production partner Patio Drummond.
Our History
Mahoutian was trying to find a by-product or waste material that would react with CO2 in a way that would enable the production of construction products that sequester carbon dioxide.
After testing a variety of materials, he found that steel slag, a steel-making by-product, could be used as a one-to-one replacement for cement when ground to the correct consistency.
In 2015, through the Technology Transfer Office at McGill, Mahoutian was introduced to Chris Stern, a cleantech entrepreneur that was looking for promising green technologies.
The pair teamed up with Yuri Mytko, a marketing professional, and Mario Venditti, a mechanical engineer and technology investor, and incorporated under the name CarbiCrete.
As its first project, the start-up elected to compete in the Carbon XPRIZE, a $20 million international competition challenging the world to develop valuable uses for CO2. The group was selected as a finalist in 2018.
During the four-year competition, the company attracted funding from a number of sources, including Innovobot, Venditti’s venture capital firm, and Harsco, the world’s largest processor of steel slag, and embarked on a multi-year pilot project to demonstrate that the technology was viable at industrial scale.
CarbiCrete identified Patio Drummond, a hardscape manufacturer in Drummondville, Quebec, as its pilot partner.
In 2022, CarbiCrete closed out a successful Series A funding round, bringing in a host of new investors, including FS Investors, Arc Energy Fund 9, Something Good Ventures, New Climate Ventures, MacKinnon, Bennett & Co., Fonds économie circulaire, Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, Fondaction, Aera VC, and French manufacturing giant Saint-Gobain, with whom CarbiCrete is working to bring the technology to France.
The company rounded out its management team and grew its staff to over 50 employees. After the successful completion of its pilot project, it was announced in September of 2023 that CarbiCrete products were now available on the market through Patio Drummond.
As CarbiCrete expands its global presence, the company is working with a number of partners to develop new cement-free products and to convert concrete plants to the CarbiCrete process.
CarbiCrete’s corporate headquarters and R&D facility are located in Lachine, Quebec.
