Blastr Green Steel completes partner financing round for ultra-low CO2 steel value chain
HELSINKI, Feb. 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ --Blastr Green Steel (Blastr) has successfully completed a second strategic partner financing round, advancing the development of a European integrated ultra-low CO2 steel value chain with its flagship steel plant in Finland.
The partner financing round included three of Blastr's founding investors and three new investors based in Finland, all with a common emphasis on sustainable growth. The new investors are:
- Aurora Infrastructure, a company providing industry-leading solutions for asset financing, transfer and development of existing or new electricity networks in the Nordics,
- Onvest Oy, a family-owned company and partner, and enabler of sustainable growth, and
- Security Trading Oy, a family investment company focused on creating a more sustainable, resilient future.
The original investors providing additional capital and increasing their ownership in Blastr are the global steel industry leader Cargill, Finland's state-owned venture capital and private equity investment company Tesi, and Blastr's founder Vanir Green Industries.
"Blastr warmly welcomes the new partners who all share our vision for a more sustainable steel industry, and the strong continued commitment from our founding investors. The successful closing of this second partner round is a real credit to our team and partners, demonstrating the viability of our business model and mine-to-gate value proposition", says Mark Bula, CEO of Blastr Green Steel.
The proceeds of the closing will be used to progress Blastr's value chain with the steel plant in Inkoo, Finland, and further development of Blastr's pellet plant that will produce 6 million metric tonnes (Mt) of DR pellet feedstock annually.
Blastr is creating a low-carbon mine-to-gate steel value chain with 90% lower C0₂ emissions than conventional steelmaking by using hydrogen instead of coal in the iron production process and feedstock made with carbon-free energy. This mine-to-gate model enables a differentiated and profitable business model with a low carbon footprint.
Aurora Infrastructure's CEO Robin Lindahl, added, "Blastr's green steel project is a significant industrial investment for Finland, exactly what the country needs to accelerate its transition to a sustainable future. This project not only leverages Finland's renewable energy resources but also creates new jobs and economic opportunities by advancing value-added processing locally. The Inkoo site, with its existing infrastructure and strategic location, is ideally suited for such an initiative. Projects like this are what we want to support at Aurora Infrastructure, and we have a proven track record of serving some of the largest industrial sites in Finland. We want to be a part of building Finland's future strengths and the establishment of a robust hydrogen economy, meeting the growing demand for green steel."
Maria Toivanen, CEO of Onvest Oy said, "As a family company, we want to be involved in the arrival of green steel in Finland. We want to support this great green transition project, as we own one of the biggest steel service companies in Finland."
In late 2024, Blastr submitted the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the Inkoo plant to the Finnish authorities. The EIA report concluded that the facility can be realized in an environmentally sustainable manner, and based on the report, Blastr plans to apply for the environmental permits for the Inkoo project in 2025.
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