Why We Invested in Gigaton
Industrial resilience starts with energy resilience
By Nicole Florack and
The industries that underpin the physical world are under pressure.
Cement, steel, chemicals, aluminium and ceramics are all being squeezed by the same forces: structurally higher energy costs, volatile fuel markets, ageing industrial infrastructure and limited pricing power.
Across Europe, chemical production cuts have accelerated sharply since the energy crisis. Steelmakers have reduced output or paused production at certain sites. Energy-intensive manufacturers are being forced to make operational decisions that would have seemed extreme only a few years ago.
And yet the world still needs more of what these industries produce. We need cement for homes, bridges and hospitals. Steel for grids, factories and transport. Materials for data centres, power infrastructure and the built environment.
The question is no longer whether heavy industry matters. It is whether we can make it more resilient, more productive and less exposed to energy volatility.
That is why we invested in Gigaton.
Where creativity meets complexity
Cement producers were early movers in energy resilience.
One of the most effective ways to reduce both cost and carbon is to replace fossil fuels with alternative fuels: organics from municipal and commercial waste, agricultural by-products, forestry residues and other low-cost energy sources that would otherwise be discarded.
For decades, the best cement operators have pushed hard to increase the use of these fuels. The motivation is obvious: alternative fuels can lower costs, reduce exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets and materially cut emissions.
But they are also much harder to control.
Coal is relatively stable. Alternative fuels are not. Their moisture, energy content and chemistry can change constantly. Every change affects the kiln. The plant risks instability, lower quality, reduced throughput or higher maintenance.
The existing control systems were not built for this world. They were designed around fixed rules, steady inputs and predictable operating conditions. But today’s plants need software that is as adaptive, resourceful and as experienced as the best human operators.
Self-learning control for energy-intensive industry
Gigaton, formerly Carbon Re, closes exactly this gap.
Its Self-Learning Control system brings AI directly into the heart of plant operations. Rather than simply advising operators from the sidelines, Gigaton helps run equipment towards the targets that plant teams set.
The system is adaptive, continuously retraining as plant conditions change. It is predictive, acting ahead of problems rather than reacting after the fact. It is flexible, allowing managers to reset priorities depending on whether the plant is optimising for cost, throughput, emissions or stability. And crucially, it is explainable, showing operators why actions are being recommended or taken.
That last point matters. Heavy industry does not adopt black-box software lightly. Plants need trust, transparency and operational reliability. Gigaton has built its product with that reality in mind.
The results are already significant. A single cement plant using Gigaton can generate around £1.3 million in annual savings, avoid 6,000 tonnes of carbon emissions and reduce output variability by 33%. Some of the largest cement plants in the world are already using the platform to save millions of pounds a year.
This is not a dashboard. It is not another reporting layer. It is AI moving from analysis into control.
Built by people who understand the control room
What gives us conviction in Gigaton is not just the technology. It is the team.
Gigaton sits at the intersection of AI, process engineering and industrial software. To build a company here, you need more than machine learning talent. You need to understand how cement plants actually operate, how decisions are made in control rooms, how risk is managed, and how to earn trust in environments where downtime is expensive and mistakes matter.
Josh Vernon and the Gigaton team have spent years inside these systems. They combine deep AI capability with practical industrial experience and a clear understanding of what plant operators need in order to adopt new technology.
That combination is rare. It is also exactly what is needed to bring intelligence and automation to some of the world’s most complex industrial environments.
Gigaton-scale impact
The energy crunch is not a passing storm. It is the new operating environment.
Energy prices are likely to remain more volatile. Industrial producers will need to become more efficient, more flexible and less dependent on traditional fossil fuel inputs. The winners will be the companies that can turn complexity into advantage.
Gigaton is building the control layer for that future.
Starting with cement, the company has the potential to expand across the world’s most energy-intensive industries, helping plants reduce costs, improve stability and cut emissions at meaningful scale.
We are delighted to have invested in Gigaton’s $26m Series A round, alongside our friends at Plural, Planet A, Clean Growth Fund and Semapa Next, to support Josh and the team as they bring self-learning control to the industrial systems that power the physical world.
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About 2150
2150 is a venture capital firm investing in technology companies that are redefining cities and the industries that sustain them.
Built on the belief that cities drive the majority of global prosperity and represent the greatest opportunity for sustainable progress, 2150 backs founders developing transformative solutions across energy, industrial decarbonisation, advanced manufacturing, mobility and urban systems.
The firm partners with companies capable of delivering superior financial outcomes alongside measurable benefits for people and the planet. 2150 manages €500 million in assets under management and invests worldwide from its offices in London, Copenhagen and Berlin.
