How A Sewage Company Is Becoming A Darling Among Big Tech Investors

Reports about a startup attracting big bucks from tech giants are nothing new. But Vaulted Deep isn’t your typical Silicon Valley startup.

There’s a technological aspect to what the company does, but it’s not something you’d download from the App Store.

Waste not, want not

In a nutshell, Vaulted Deep’s mission involves pumping human excrement and other forms of waste deep underground — and some of the biggest companies on Earth think it’s a recipe for addressing climate concerns.

So far, the startup has amassed a warchest of more than $58 million, in part as a result of investments by Frontier Climate, an joint venture launched in 2022 by the companies Alphabet, McKinsey Sustainability, Meta, Shopify, and Stripe. The organization seeks to fund carbon-capture projects, which at its root is what Vaulted Deep is doing with its poop-pumping project.

A number of other major companies — JPMorgan Chase, H&M Group, and Autodesk, to name a few — have also invested in Vaulted Deep’s novel approach to an age-old problem.

Major milestones

The startup company’s broad goal might sound simple enough, but it’s bolstered by some measurable goals it (and its many investors) hope to reach within a few years. The latest deal with Frontier Climate calls for the capture of 152,480 tons of carbon dioxide by 2027.

That number might not mean much on its own, but it’s analogous to removing about 36,000 gas-powered vehicles from the road for a full year. Customers currently pay about $600 to filter one ton, but the long-term goal is to bring that number down to $100.

But Vaulted Deep exec Omar Abou-Sayed is optimistic since the technology already exists.

“Ours is more like the McDonald’s problem of what’s the best intersection to put the McDonald’s to get the most car traffic,” he explained.

Chris Agee May 2nd, 2024

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