Holcim invests in Sublime Systems to scale up innovative low-carbon technology
- Startup developed proprietary CO2-free electrochemical process to produce low-carbon cement
- Investment covers Sublime’s first commercial manufacturing facility, giving Holcim a large share of Sublime CementTM produced there, and rights to co-develop future large-scale facilities
- Adds to Holcim’s broadest range of low-carbon technologies from innovative low-emission raw materials and decarbonized energy to CCUS
Holcim has invested in Sublime Systems, a leading low-carbon cement technology startup, to expand its range of highly engineered solutions to decarbonize building at scale. The partnership will advance Sublime’s first commercial manufacturing facility in Massachusetts, U.S.A., giving Holcim a large share of Sublime CementTM produced there through a binding offtake reservation. The two partners have established a dedicated project team to co-develop further facilities to scale up and commercialize Sublime Systems’ technology for swift market deployment.
Nollaig Forrest, Chief Sustainability Officer, Holcim: “The Sublime Systems team has developed a unique technology to decarbonize cement, cutting across the entire production process from the use of clean electricity to carbon-free raw materials. We are excited about this technology’s potential and are delighted to be partnering to bring it to market at scale. This investment advances our strategy to decarbonize construction by scaling up the most innovative technologies across our operations.”
Dr. Leah Ellis, CEO and Co-Founder, Sublime Systems: “In the cement industry, scale is everything. We are proud to collaborate with Holcim who supports our mission of swift and massive impact. By pairing Sublime’s technology with Holcim’s advanced global operations from manufacturing and logistics to commercial distribution, we can scale up our impact together.”
Sublime Systems’ technology reinvents the full cement manufacturing process. Based on a proprietary CO2-free electrochemical system, it uses clean electricity and carbon-free raw materials for cement production. After its first successful market applications, Sublime is currently building a commercial-scale manufacturing plant to produce 30,000 tons of cement per year as of 2026. Holcim’s investment adds to a recent award it was selected for by the U.S. Department of Energy’s Office of Clean Energy Demonstrations (OCED).
Holcim has the broadest range of decarbonization technologies in its industry to execute on its 2030 and 2050 1.5°C-aligned net-zero targets validated by the Science Based Targets initiative. Its portfolio ranges from innovative low-emission materials like calcined clay and decarbonized cement paste from recycled construction demolition materials; all the way to decarbonized energy, with 15 sites operating at over 80% alternative fuels. It is currently developing six CCUS projects, engineered to produce 8 million tons of decarbonized cement per year by 2030. Through Holcim MAQER Ventures, it works with hundreds of startups to scale up the most innovative technologies in the built environment.
About Holcim
Holcim is a global leader in innovative and sustainable building solutions with net sales of CHF 27.0 billion in 2023. Driven by our purpose to build progress for people and the planet, our 63,448 employees are on a mission to decarbonize building, while improving living standards for all. We empower our customers across all regions to build better with less, with a broad range of low-carbon and circular solutions, from ECOPact and ECOPlanet to our circular technology platform ECOCycle®. Through innovative systems, from Elevate roofing to PRB insulation, Holcim makes buildings more sustainable in use, driving energy efficiency and green retrofitting. With sustainability at the core of our strategy, we are on the way to becoming a net-zero company with 1.5°C targets validated by SBTi.
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About Sublime Systems
Sublime Systems is on a mission to have a swift, massive, and enduring impact on global CO2 emissions by decarbonizing cement. Unlike net-zero solutions that rely on carbon capture or removal, Sublime's fully electrified, "true-zero” approach avoids the industry’s legacy fossil-fueled kilns and limestone feedstock. Sublime’s electrochemical process instead extracts reactive calcium and silicates from an abundance of raw materials at ambient temperature, to make ASTM C1157-compliant Sublime CementTM, a drop-in replacement for ordinary portland cement in concrete. Sublime was founded at MIT by Dr. Leah Ellis and Prof. Yet-Ming Chiang, both respected experts in materials science, electrochemical systems, and sustainability research. The company has raised funding from leading climate tech investors, global cement incumbents, and cooperative agreements with the U.S. Department of Energy’s ARPA-E, IEDO, and OCED award programs. It currently operates a Somerville, MA-based pilot plant with a >250 TPY nameplate production capacity and is developing its 30,000 TPY first commercial facility to open in Holyoke, MA as early as 2026. Learn more at sublime-systems.com.
Important disclaimer – forward-looking statements:
This document contains forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements do not constitute forecasts regarding results or any other performance indicator, but rather trends or targets, as the case may be, including with respect to plans, initiatives, events, products, solutions and services, their development and potential. Although Holcim believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable assumptions as at the time of publishing this document, investors are cautioned that these statements are not guarantees of future performance. Actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are difficult to predict and generally beyond the control of Holcim, including but not limited to the risks described in the Holcim's annual report available on its website (www.holcim.com) and uncertainties related to the market conditions and the implementation of our plans. Accordingly, we caution you against relying on forward-looking statements. Holcim does not undertake to provide updates of these forward-looking statements.
