The problem

The world will need to construct 2.5 billion new buildings in the next 20 years to meet current rates of population migration, on top of around 12 million houses every year to rebuild the ones we are losing due to war and natural disasters. 

And yet, the building industry is currently the largest carbon-emitting industry today, contributing 36% of global carbon emissions. The extraction, transport, and manufacturing of raw materials (steel, cements etc.) into building materials require a high amount of energy—most of which is generated by fossil fuels. 

To navigate the existential risks of the climate crisis, there is an urgent need to upgrade our construction technology for our collective future.

The solution

Tattva is developing a new bioengineered system of construction that is fundamentally based on the biological process of photosynthesis. The system aims to fulfil and outperform current standards of building construction, while simultaneously sequestering carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In sum—they’re transforming construction from the largest carbon-emitting activity into the largest carbon-sequestering one. 

How are they doing this?

Their patented photosynthetic bioprocess engineering technology enables them to harness the evolutionary properties of ancient cyanobacteria species in a scalable and economically efficient manner. This technology allows them to grow living photosynthetic tissues that are lightweight, load-bearing, insulating, and translucent, an exciting first step towards creating a biologically grown built environment.

Why we’re excited to invest

Louis Warner, partner at G-Force, says: “In Tattva, not only did we find a bio-engineered super-material that absorbs carbon whilst it grows, and whose properties exceed some of the most commonly used building materials today, we also met a superbly talented founder in Prantar Tamuli, an architect turned bio-chemical PhD researcher, who has gone on to build a stellar team and is now leading a company that we believe will one day grow buildings, carbon negatively! We are thrilled to be part of the journey with the Tattva team and help them scale their business.”