Concrete commitment: we're backing Reclinker again at Series A

Reclinker (formerly Cambridge Electric Cement) has closed an oversubscribed £10 million Series A to take its cement recycling process from successful trials to full commercial production. Zero Carbon Capital, which led the company's £2.25 million seed round in 2024, has invested again in this round.

The Reclinker team

The round

We're welcoming new investors in this round: co-leads AP Ventures and Clean Growth Fund, and participation from the Development Bank of Wales and Kibo Invest. Existing investors Zero Carbon and Cambridge Enterprise both participated.

The funding will scale production in Cardiff in partnership with 7 Steel, and create skilled green jobs in South Wales. It will also support replication at further electric arc furnace sites in Europe and the US.

From a 7-tonne trial to first commercial sales

Cement is responsible for around 7% of global CO₂ emissions, roughly three times those of aviation. Most of this comes from producing clinker, cement's key ingredient: calcining limestone and burning fossil fuels in high-temperature kilns.

Reclinker's process, developed at the University of Cambridge and described in Nature, recovers cement paste from demolition waste and turns it back into clinker inside the electric arc furnaces already used to recycle steel. It produces new clinker and recycled steel at the same time, with no kiln, no quarried limestone and no fossil fuel heat. The resulting cementitious slag is cuts emissions by 50% immediately, with further reductions possible as the technology scales - at cost parity with conventional cement.

When we first invested, the process had been proven in a 7-tonne furnace through the Innovate UK-funded Cement 2 Zero project at the Materials Processing Institute in Middlesborough. Since then, Reclinker has:

• Made over a thousand tonnes of clinker across multiple trials at 7 Steel UK's Cardiff plant.

• Secured its first commercial sales in partnership with Cemblend.

• Been further validated through the Innovate UK Advance Market Commitment, where large concrete users have publicly stated their intent to introduce significant volumes of low-carbon materials over the next five years

Multipave using Reclinker cement in a road in Lancashire

Why we're investing again

We backed Reclinker at seed because it pairs a new decarbonisation technology with existing infrastructure, giving it large abatement and commercial potential. The Series A confirms that thesis on three fronts.

It tackles both sources of cement emissions. Recycled cement paste removes calcination emissions, and electric arc furnaces running on renewable power remove fossil fuel heat. The process also replaces the lime flux used in steelmaking, cutting emissions on the steel side too.

It uses capital equipment that already exists. Running inside electric arc furnaces avoids building new kilns, which makes the process capital-light to replicate. The next sites in Europe and the US follow the same model as Cardiff.

The market is pulling. Blast-furnace slag, long used in low-carbon cement blends, is disappearing as steelmakers move away from blast furnaces. Concrete producers are short of the low-carbon materials they need, and Reclinker's product steps straight into that gap, at cost parity.

What's next

Reclinker will use the round to scale production in Cardiff and prepare for its first sites beyond Wales.

"We are thrilled to have received backing from both our existing and incoming investors. This oversubscribed round sends a strong signal that UK investors are serious about decarbonisation. We are particularly glad this investment will support the growth of green industries in Wales." Bill Yost, CEO, Reclinker

Congratulations to Bill and the Reclinker team, and welcome to Clean Growth Fund, AP Ventures, Development Bank of Wales and Kibo Invest.

Read more:

• Why we made our original investment in Reclinker - Decarbonising cement: announcing our investment in Cambridge Electric Cement