Brilliant Planet announced $12 million Series A funding co-led by Union Square Ventures and Toyota Ventures.

Brilliant Planet, a London, UK-based startup building a nature-based carbon capture and storage operation, announced closing series A round at $12 million.

The money was raised from investors co-led by Union Square Ventures and Toyota Ventures, and joined by Future Positive Capital, AiiM Partners, S2G Ventures, Haatch and Pegasus Tech Ventures.

John Buttrick of Union Square Ventures will be joining the Board of Directors.

Brilliant Planet, founded in 2013 by CEO Adam Taylor and Raffael Jovine, developed a process that enable vast quantities of microalgae to grow in open-air pond-based systems on coastal desert land. This is achieved without using freshwater, by harnessing a natural process that contributes to the health of oceans and air. The end goal is building an affordable method of permanently and quantifiably sequestering carbon at the gigaton scale. 

The company ran four years of trials at its 3-hectare research facility in Morocco, and has now in the works the construction of a 30-hectare commercial demonstration facility