PISCATAWAY—BASF Venture Capital GmbH is investing $5 million in Solidia Technologies, Inc. as part of a $27 million financing round. The current round of financing also included Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, BP Ventures and Bright Capital, the venture arm of RU-COM Corporation.

Solidia Technologies enables sustainable production of building and construction materials. Concrete and building materials made with this novel technology have lower life-cycle costs and smaller environmental footprints than concrete. The technology uses CO2 as a reactant,consuming and sequestering this greenhouse gas during production.

"The materials produced by this process will have disruptive potential in the building and construction industry. They have better mechanical properties than traditional concrete and show no shrinkage, high compressive strength and low permeability," said Dr. Pulakesh Mukherjee, Principal at BASF Venture Capital. The sustainable production process used by Solidia Technologies enables production of fully cured concrete pieces within just a few hours.

Products manufactured with Solidia's process are stronger and more durable than traditional building materials. As a result, cement manufacturers can produce low environmental impact products with existing equipment for the concrete industry.This new class of materials can then be used both indoor and outdoor for a variety of products, ranging from pavers to structural precast concrete.