CRH Ventures backs EnviCore to build 200,000-tonne cement materials plant
What's the deal? CRH VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has led an early-stage investment in EnviCore, a Calgary-based company developing high-performance supplementary cementitious materials (SCMs) for construction. The Canadian startup uses a proprietary thermo-chemical process to convert clays, natural pozzolans, recycled concrete and glass, industrial by-products, and mine tailings into SCMs.
What's the endgame? The funding will help EnviCore build its first-of-a-kind facility, with a planned production capacity of 200,000 tonnes per year, as it prepares for commercial-scale production. Its process is designed to activate locally sourced minerals and integrate with existing cement infrastructure.
Why now? Traditional SCMs such as fly ash and slag are becoming more constrained in some regions, raising demand for alternative sources. EnviCore's technology aims to fill that gap by turning lower-value materials into usable inputs for cement production.
How they got here: The relationship began through the CRHDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → Ventures Sustainable Building Materials Accelerator, which EnviCore won. CRH teams have since worked with the company to evaluate its technology across multiple feedstocks, building a technical foundation for this next stage.
"EnviCore has developed a compelling technology with the potential to create high-performing supplementary cementitious materials from a broad range of locally available resources," said Murari Perumalsamy, head of CRH Ventures. "This investment allows us to deepen that collaboration, build further evidence and explore how the technology could support CRH's cementitious materials strategy."
Shahrukh Shamim, chief executive officer and co-founder of EnviCore, said the deal "marks an important next step" that will support efforts to "develop, validate and scale our technology."
Founded in 2019 as a spinout from the University of Calgary, EnviCore focuses on decarbonising cement production and turning industrial waste into higher-value resources. CRH Ventures is the venture arm of CRH, a global building materials provider that invests in ConTech and ClimateTech companies.
The signal: As supplies of conventional cement additives tighten, corporate venture arms are backing startups that can produce alternatives from local waste streams. CRH's staged, evidence-first approach — accelerator, joint testing, then investment — reflects how incumbents are de-risking new materials before wider deployment.
Read more: envicoreinc.com
Image credit: Aaron Volkening
