BOULDER, Colo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Prometheus Materials, a leader in sustainable building materials, today announced the appointment of Vishaan Chakrabarti, FAIA FRAIC, to its Board of Directors. Chakrabarti joins a dedicated leadership team working to harness Prometheus Materials’ technology to accelerate the world’s transition to a carbon-negative future.
This Board addition comes on the heels of multiple company milestones. In June 2022, Prometheus Materials announced its $8 Million Series A Funding Round led by Paris-based VC firm Sofinnova Partners, with participation by the Microsoft Climate Innovation Fund, Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), GAF, and The Autodesk Foundation. In July 2022, Prometheus Materials and SOM announced a partnership to ultimately develop zero-carbon building materials.
“We are thrilled to welcome Vishaan to our board,” said Loren Burnett, President and CEO of Prometheus Materials. “Vishaan has unique expertise to help guide the company through new levels of growth – conducting key advocacy work in the market at-large to promote sustainable legislation, helping to drive critical industry connections, and addressing market awareness and acceptance around the benefits of sustainable building materials.”
Chakrabarti brings a wealth of experience to his new role, in which he has acutely focused on sustainable design. He is the Founder and Creative Director of Practice for Architecture & Urbanism (PAU), a design firm dedicated to lasting architecture and human urbanism to advance healthy cities. Previously, he served as Director of Planning for Manhattan, assisting in the reconstruction of the new World Trade Center and the design of New York City’s High Line and 7 Line expansion, among other projects. He also served as Dean at the University of California - Berkeley College of Environmental Design, and has given main stage TED Talks on sustainability in architecture and urban design.
“Joining Prometheus Materials’ board feels like a natural extension of the mission of my life’s work,” said Chakrabarti. “There will be an avalanche of growth in the demand for sustainable building materials in the coming years and Prometheus Materials’ technology is vital in addressing a key polluting sector. Concrete is one of the world’s primary building materials and I’m honored to work with this team to help change the status quo of urban design through sustainable materials.”
Cement production accounts for 8% of annual CO2 emissions and consumes 9% of annual industrial water production on a global basis. In contrast to traditional portland-based cement, the production of Prometheus Materials' microalgae-based building materials emits little-to-no CO2 and recycles 95% of the water used.
About Prometheus Materials
Prometheus Materials provides sustainable building materials that accelerate the world’s transition to a carbon-negative future. Inspired by biological processes found in nature, the company's process uses microalgae to produce a bio-cement that offers an alternative to carbon-intensive portland cement. When mixed with aggregate, this bio-cement forms an ultra low-carbon bio-concrete with mechanical, physical, and thermal properties that rival those of portland cement-based concrete. Learn more about how the company enables the decarbonization of the construction industry at prometheusmaterials.com.
