Bill Gates-Backed Startup Goes After Disrupting Steel Industry — Booting Out Coal From Manufacturing Process

At the Bill Gates-founded Breakthrough Energy Ventures, an investor met Sandeep Nijhawan, who had four business ideas, each addressing rising global temperatures. Nijhawan — who had recently departed from founding two startups — had no inkling then that one of his ideas could disrupt the steel industry that generates more than $870 billion in revenues each year.

What Happened: During his March 2020 meeting, Nijhawan impressed the Microsoft co-founder's BEV investor Dave Danielson with his first conception. 

The idea presented by Nijhawan was to make iron without coal, intense heat, or emission, powered by only renewable electricity. 

“Let me stop you right there,” Danielson told Nijhawan after he presented his first idea of affordable green steel, reported Bloomberg. 

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“If you could do this thing, then that’s what I would do. I don’t want to hear the next three ideas,” added Danielson. 

Iron makes up about 98% of the substance in steel, which is used in buildings, infrastructure, tools, ships, trains and cars among others. The process of making steel releases huge amounts of carbon dioxide when it is heated on coal at 1400°C (2500°F).

The report noted that steel production is responsible for 7% of greenhouse-gas emissions dumped into the air each year. That number is much more than the combined climate impact of shipping and aviation.

BEV invested $2.25 million in Nijhawan’s Electra, aside from other investors.

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