Limenet, a start-up operating in the carbon dioxide removal (CDR) sector, has announced that it has closed a €7 million investment round with CDP Venture Capital through the Green Transition Fund – PNRR and Accelerator Fund, and Fassa Bortolo Industria, which operates in the lime production sector.
The technology developed by Limenet allows for the production of decarbonised lime, which can be used to remove CO2 from the atmosphere through ocean alkalinity enhancement. In this process, CO2 is stored in the sea through a natural chemical process that transforms it into bicarbonates, natural and essential chemical elements found in the seas. Thanks to their buffering effect, bicarbonates counteract ocean acidification, one of the planetary limits already exceeded according to the Copernicus report (October 2025).
Just over two years after its foundation, Limenet is consolidating its role among Italy’s innovative companies in the field of CDR technologies and industrial decarbonisation of lime. The entry of CDP Venture Capital and industrial partner Fassa Bortolo represents a strategic step not only for the company’s growth, but also for the creation of an Italian carbon removal supply chain, an increasingly crucial sector in the fight against climate change.
With this new investment, Limenet is accelerating the development of innovative solutions that reduce CO2 emissions, promoting a more sustainable future for industry and the environment. Limenet’s total capital raised now stands at €9.5 million in equity.
The capital raised will be used to grow the company and complete Limenet’s first industrial project, which focuses on the production of decarbonised lime for the removal and storage of CO2 via the sea. The production and use of lime accounts for approximately 5-8% of global CO2 emissions, the company said in a statement. The development of a technology capable of producing decarbonised lime offers a great opportunity to reduce the environmental impact of a sector that is particularly difficult to decarbonise. In Europe, from 2034, the sector will be subject to increasingly stringent regulations due to the total phase-out of free CO2 emission allowances in the ETS (emission trading system) market, putting pressure on companies operating in this field.
“This investment marks a crucial moment for Limenet: it allows us to accelerate our industrial development on two fronts that we believe are complementary,” says Stefano Cappello, CEO and co-founder of Limenet (pictured with the team). “On the one hand, thanks to decarbonised lime, Limenet has the opportunity to offer the market a solution capable of decarbonising a hard-to-abate sector and, on the other, to use the same technology to make a concrete contribution to removing CO2 from the atmosphere.”
“Supporting Limenet means believing in a revolutionary technology that addresses one of the most pressing challenges of our time: industrial decarbonisation, contributing to European ecological transition goals and the fight against climate change,” says Stefano Molino, head of CDP Venture Capital’s Accelerator Fund. “The Limenet team has demonstrated an extraordinary ability to transform advanced research into industrial applications. From the laboratory to the pilot plant, to the design of a production site in Sicily, a journey that inspires confidence in their vision and their ability to execute.”
“For Fassa Bortolo, this investment represents a natural step in the process of innovation and decarbonisation that we are pursuing with determination across all our production chains,” says Manuela Fassa, member of the Fassa board of directors. “The technology developed by Limenet combines vision, advanced research and industrial practicality. Supporting the growth of this company means contributing to the development of solutions capable of reducing the carbon footprint of a sector that is difficult to decarbonise, such as lime, and accompanying the industry towards a more sustainable future. We believe in the value of strategic partnerships and in the power of innovation when it arises from the collaboration of different skills. Joining Limenet represents a significant opportunity to accelerate production processes with a lower environmental impact.”
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