CarbonCure Technologies, the Halifax cleantech company dedicated to low-carbon concrete products, has closed a $3.5 million Series B financing led by BDC Venture Capital.

The company has been accelerating the sales of its eco-friendly concrete solution in the past year, and Founder and CEO Robert Niven now wants to use the additional funds for the research and development of precast and ready mix products.

Concrete, the world’s most common construction material, is responsible for 5 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions because traditional processes cure concrete blocks by heating them. CarbonCure’s process cures the blocks by injecting waste carbon into them, thereby seriously reducing the CO2 emissions in the manufacture of concrete products. 

Montreal-based BDC is investing in CarbonCure for the first time, as is Eagle Cliff Partners, based in the San Francisco Area. The other investors in the round are Innovacorp and 350 Capital of Toronto, as well as other strategic investors.

“CarbonCure is a promising Canadian company that we believe has the potential to generate significant returns for its investors, while positively impacting one of the world’s largest industries,” said Tony Van Bommel, Senior Managing Partner with the BDC Venture Capital Energy/Cleantech Fund, in a statement. “This investment is a strong testimonial of the confidence we, as investors, have in CarbonCure’s products and expertise to compete and succeed in the concrete marketplace.”

Van Bommel, who is joining the CarbonCure board, is no stranger to the region. The Dalhousie University grad is a former investment manager with Innovacorp, and previously manned the former BDC office in Halifax. He was on the board of such Atlantic Canadian startups as Welaptega Marine and Satlantic Inc., and won a CVCA Deal of the Year award for BDC’s investment in Q1 Labs of Fredericton. He had been one of the candidates to lead the regional VC fund, which eventually became Build Ventures.

The investment is also significant as it is the first major deal BDC has done in Atlantic Canada since it backed Radian6 of Fredericton in 2009. That deal also won a CVCA Deal of the Year prize. BDC has recently backed a handful of graduates from the Launch36 accelerator with $150,000 convertible notes.

CarbonCure hit a home run in landing Eagle Cliff Partners, as it joins the small list of Atlantic Canadian companies with investors from Silicon Valley. It means the company will have direct access to the networks and experience of the largest cleantech community in the U.S.

“We’re thrilled to be a part of the CarbonCure story and look forward to working with the CarbonCure team to make green concrete mainstream,” Rebecca Levin, Managing Partner at Eagle Cliff, said in the statement.

CarbonCure previously raised its first round of funding in February 2012, landing a $1.1 million investment from Innovacorp, and $400,000 from private investors, mainly from Atlantic Canada.

The company has recently been landing significant sales deals throughout North America – an impressive feat given the long sales cycles in the manufacturing and construction industries.

The company in June signed a licensing agreement with Northfield Block, a division of publicly listed Oldcastle Inc., the largest producer of concrete masonry and precast products in North America. That deal followed similar licensing agreements with Basalite Concrete Prducts. of California and Midland, Ont.-based concrete manufacturer Atlas Block.

Niven has said the next step is to move beyond concrete block and into precast concrete and ready-mix products, to capture an even greater share of the concrete market.