£2.2m · Other round · Cleantech · Southampton, UK
Viridi, the University of Southampton spin-out formerly known as ViridiCO2, has closed a £2.2m funding round led by Odyssey Ventures. TOP Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Thaioil, joined as a strategic investor alongside Alphatron Impact Ventures and existing angel investors. According to the company announcement, the capital will support technology scale-up, hiring and commercial expansion across Asia and the US.
A drop-in catalyst changes the adoption equation
Viridi develops solid catalysts that let chemical manufacturers use captured CO2 as a feedstock for products traditionally made with fossil or palm-derived carbon. The company’s technology page says the catalyst can work in existing manufacturing infrastructure, lower reaction temperatures and reduce purification steps. Surfactants used in home and personal care are the first commercial application, with polyols, resins, coatings and adhesives among the broader targets.
The commercial mechanism is less about selling captured carbon and more about making it usable inside processes factories already operate. A drop-in catalyst can reduce the capital hurdle of a plant rebuild, while lower temperatures and fewer processing steps can give manufacturers an operating-cost reason to adopt alongside the emissions case. That makes validation in real industrial environments central: customers need consistent product performance, throughput and economics before changing a core chemical input.
Strategic investors bring routes into two markets
TOP Ventures gives Viridi access to Thaioil’s industrial network and experience in petrochemicals and surfactant inputs across Asia. Odyssey Ventures contributes a transatlantic deep-tech network as Viridi expands in the US. The financing therefore combines capital with potential market access on both sides of the company’s commercial plan.
Viridi launched Vireya, which it describes as a CO2-derived anionic surfactant, in 2025 and signed a joint development agreement with specialty chemicals supplier Zschimmer & Schwarz in 2026. Those steps move the company from laboratory chemistry towards product and manufacturing validation. The next execution test is whether the platform can deliver repeatable economics at larger scale across different chemical classes without losing the drop-in advantage that underpins its sales pitch.
Sources checked:
Viridi funding announcement · Viridi technology · Viridi company background · Tech.eu Funding Explorer
