A DOE-backed startup,Calectra, announces $2M funding to electrify high-temperature industrial heat

A combination of private and public funders are backing Calectra’s mission to decarbonize industrial process heat.

[OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA]: Calectra raised a $1.6M pre-seed round led by Lifeline Ventures with participation from Aera VC, Security Trading (the investment company of Antti Herlin’s family), Orca Climate Fund, Wave Ventures, Prodeko Ventures, and Justin Brodie-Kommit.

Calectra has been awarded over $400,000 in grant funding from the US government and New York State. The team was selected for the renowned Activate, Cyclotron Road, and Venture for Climate Tech programs. Calectra’s co-founders, Pauliina Meskanen and Dr. Nate Weger, met at the 2023 inaugural cohort of the DOE-backed Cradle to Commerce program.

High-temperature heat is required to manufacture essential materials like cement, steel, and glass. Decarbonization solutions for high-temperature heat have been difficult to develop, limiting the current options to green hydrogen or direct electrification, both of which are prohibitively expensive for low-margin manufacturing industries to adopt at scale.

Calectra is developing a power-to-heat thermal storage technology to provide manufacturing industries with low-cost, high-temperature (up to 1600°C), emission-free process heat. Calectra’s thermal storage system converts electricity from the grid or on-site renewables into high-temperature heat within its patent-pending bricks. This heat is then stored in the bricks and delivered to industrial manufacturers on demand. Calectra optimizes its technology for high-temperature heat delivery at low cost and at large scale. Dr. Nate Weger, Co-Founder & CTO of Calectra, developed the technology concept during his PhD at UC Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

By replacing fossil fuels in high-temperature process heat generation, Calectra could slash annual CO2 emissions by 1.8Gt, representing 5% of global CO2 emissions.

“Heavy industry is one of the hardest to decarbonize sectors, accounting for a quarter of global carbon dioxide emissions. Manufacturing companies usually produce low-margin commodities and compete in global markets. This means that most companies cannot afford to pay a green premium for their heat decarbonization solution. At the same time, the heat source has to be reliable and safe, as most industrial processes operate continuously, and any downtime is hugely expensive. Calectra’s vision is to help the heavy industry to decarbonize their high-temperature process heat while reducing their costs,” says Pauliina Meskanen, Co-Founder & CEO of Calectra.

Juha Lindfors, Partner at Lifeline Ventures, says, “Industrial heat accounts for one-quarter of the global energy consumption and is a massive $450B market. Decarbonizing industrial heat presents a huge opportunity. We are excited to partner with the Calectra team to electrify high-temperature industrial heat at low cost.”

Nick Winstone, Managing Partner of Aera VC, says, “At Aera, we love to back outstanding founders developing breakthrough technology that will reverse climate change. Nate, Pauliina, and the team at Calectra are tackling a really hard problem. If they can unlock it, it will be transformational for heat and heavy industry around the world.”

To learn more about Calectra’s vision or to join its growing team, visit its website.

For media inquiries, contact:
Pauliina Meskanen
Co-Founder & CEO of Calectra
pauliina@calectra.com