Pegasus Capital Advisors is collaborating with climate tech company Partanna, which makes carbon-negative cement, on a strategic investment of up to $20 million. The cement is designed to be used to shore up coastal infrastructure.
Conventional cement is responsible for about 8% of global CO2 emissions. Partanna’s raw materials can include brine and slag–two byproducts of the desalination and steel industries that can be environmentally harmful. Partanna upcycles these into new compounds that remove CO2 from the atmosphere. The CO2 helps as a binding agent. It cannot then be released into the atmosphere. It also grows stronger in seawater.
“Partanna Ocean provides a cutting edge technology to fabricate the framework required to support living corals in the promising approach referred to as Hybrid Reefs, conserving corals and coastal protection benefits,” said Prof. Carlos Duarte, Executive Director at The G20’s Coral Research & Development Accelerator Platform. “This investment will ensure that, through Partanna Ocean, hybrid reefs also contribute to sequester CO2, which is vital because climate change is the biggest threat to coral reefs, hence leading to a triple win: an ocean, climate and biodiversity positive approach to restoring coral reefs.”
Coral reefs generate $9 billion in coastal protection, $6.8 billion in fisheries, and $35.8 billion in tourism each year. Yet these ecosystems face devastating threats from climate change—from ocean acidification to coral bleaching.
“Coral reefs and coastal ecosystems are disappearing at an alarming rate—threatening marine life, livelihoods, and entire communities,” said David Cogut, Co-Managing Partner at Pegasus Capital Advisors. “At Pegasus Capital, we believe the best investments deliver strong returns for investors and improve people’s lives. Partanna Ocean is a true innovator at the intersection of climate, technology, and the marine environment—restoring ecosystems, creating local jobs, and helping coastal communities withstand rising seas and climate-driven disasters.”
The planned investment will support Partanna’s expansion into emerging markets and help unlock catalytic grant opportunities. It will also be used to build coastal resilience under Partanna’s subsidiary, Partanna Ocean.
“This significant partnership enables us to create a world where infrastructure on land and sea can work for us, not against us,” said Rick Fox, Co-Founder and CEO of Partanna. “Partanna Ocean represents a new frontier in climate innovation, one where we support the restoration of marine ecosystems, building with materials that are nature positive and actively heal the planet.”
