Saudi Arabia's Aramco Ventures Joins US$36 Million Round For US-Based Deeptech Startup Via Separations
The funds will back the startup’s expansion of modular filtration systems for energy-efficient chemical separations.
Aramco Ventures, the corporate venturing arm of Saudi Arabia's Aramco, the world’s largest oil producer, has participated in a US$36 million round to back Via Separations, a US-based deeptech startup developing energy-efficient industrial filtration technology.
The funding round includes participation from Climate Investment, a London-based climate-focused investment firm, and Marathon Petroleum Corporation, a US downstream energy company, who joined as new investors, alongside existing backers including California-based Embark Ventures, an early-stage venture capital firm, the Grantham Foundation for the Protection of the Environment, a Boston-based climate-focused philanthropic organization, Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), a state agency supporting clean energy innovation, and the Boston-based venture capital firm, Safar Partners.
Founded by Shreya Dave and Brent Keller in 2016, Via Separations transforms heat-driven industrial processes with modular filtration systems that integrate into existing infrastructure. In doing so, it cuts energy use in chemical separation processes, which are responsible for about 12 percent of global consumption, by up to 90 percent while lowering costs and improving efficiency.
The new capital will be used to scale Via Separations' modular filtration platform into the refining and chemicals sectors, expand its manufacturing capacity, and drive broader adoption of membrane-based separation technology across industry.
In a statement, Dave, co-founder and CEO of Via Separations, said, “By proving our technology commercially in one sector, we’ve built the foundation to scale into the much larger refining and chemicals markets. This investment enables us to deliver more commercial projects across the product portfolio, expand manufacturing capacity, and accelerate global adoption of membrane‑based separations.”
Tibor Toth, Senior Investment Director at Aramco Ventures, added, “At Aramco Ventures, we invest in differentiated technologies that can deliver clear operational value at scale. Via Separations’ modular platform addresses a critical step in industrial processing and has strong potential to enhance efficiency and unlock additional capacity within existing refining and chemical assets.”
Mike Bishop, Investment Director at Climate Investment, added, “Thermal separations represent one of the largest and least-addressed sources of industrial energy consumption. Via’s innovative membrane platform introduces electrification to processes that have depended on heat for more than a century. By seamlessly integrating into existing industrial infrastructure, the company provides a practical solution for reducing energy consumption, enhancing reliability, and significantly lowering emissions.”
Via Separations has already proven its technology at commercial scale in the pulp and paper sector, with nearly two years of continuous operation at a mill in Grande Prairie, Alberta, Canada. With that foundation in place, the company is now moving into the refining and chemicals markets, having already completed a pilot at a major Gulf Coast refinery last year and hundreds of millions of dollars in capital projects currently in the pipeline.
