Innovation
Kick asphalt with Low Carbon Materials
- Innovation
- Article
- 3 minutes read
Dr Natasha Boulding stepped into an industry where women are still the exception and reinvented it. Low Carbon Materials are on a mission to turn every road, building and pothole repair into carbon sink. Their revolutionary carbon-negative additives are paving the way for a more resilient future for UK infrastructure with the backing of a specialist team who understand the economics of materials and innovation.
- With 8% of global CO₂ emissions coming from concrete¹, the industry is leaning into lower carbon concrete and asphalt.
- Low Carbon Materials are asking a different question: why does aggregate have to create emissions at all?
- Their carbon-negative additives have the capability to make every road, building and pothole-repair a carbon sink.
- With a specialist banking team behind them, Low Carbon Material’s founders are paving the way for more resilient future for UK infrastructure.
The construction industry wasn’t exactly waiting for a young scientist from Bedfordshire to reinvent it. But Dr. Natasha Boulding was never interested in fitting in. Her mission was clear from the start: turn every road, building and pothole repair into carbon sink. Stepping into one of the world’s most traditional industries she saw what others had stopped noticing: construction’s massive carbon problem.
Low Carbon Materials was formed with fellow founders Scott Bush and Phil Buckley. Considering 8% of global CO₂ emissions come from concrete², the trio are poised to make a real difference. It turned out that having no preconceptions about how things should be done was a real advantage. Whilst the industry focused on making lower carbon concrete and asphalt, the three founders asked a much bigger question: why does aggregate have to create emissions at all?
Working after hours in kitchens and university labs, they developed carbon-negative additives, OSTO and ACLA. When added to concrete or asphalt, they create a net zero cement product or road surface. LCM’s revolutionary materials are already being used on roads and potholes across the UK turning one of construction’s biggest assumptions on its head: that decarbonisation must be expensive, difficult or slow.
For founders, raising too much equity too early can mean giving away more of the business than they should. By guiding founders on how to use venture debt alongside equity investment we can help them fund growth, whilst protecting more of what they’ve built. One of many reasons why Low Carbon Materials choose to bank with us.
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