Apr 15, 2020   SOURCE: BusinessWire

Kairos Aerospace Secures $9 Million in Series C Funding to Expand Operations & Geographic Coverage

Kairos Aerospace, Inc (Kairos) a leading provider of large-scale aerial monitoring of methane emissions, today announced the closing of a $9 million Series C funding round, led by OGCI Climate Investments (“CI”), new investor John Crane, a Smiths Group company, and Energy Innovation Capital (“EIC”). The company will use the funds to expand operations and grow the geographic footprint of methane emissions monitoring.

“We want to thank our investors for their support of our technology, team, and mission,” said Steve Deiker, co-founder and CEO. “Our approach, accuracy and data actionability contribute to our reputation as the best in the field. We’ve seen significant growth in the past year as we made substantial impacts for our customers, enabling them to enhance their operational excellence and sustainability. We are saving our customers money, time and labor and look forward to continued growth as a result of this funding round.”

Founded in 2014, Kairos is a leader in providing actionable data on major sources of methane emissions. Using patented processes and innovative technology, the company conducts basin-wide aerial surveys to identify the largest leaks, pinpointed by infrared data, GPS and aerial photography. Methane emissions are highly skewed towards large but relatively infrequent sources contributing the bulk of total emissions. This skewed distribution offers the opportunity to quickly make significant reductions in methane emissions when corrected.

“OGCI Climate Investments is pleased to again join EIC as well as new investor John Crane in providing growth capital to Kairos at this exciting stage in the company’s development,” said Sam Gabbita of OGCI Climate Investments, who joined the Kairos board. “We look forward to partnering with the management team to help them continue the company’s strong growth and provide world-class methane detection technology and services to the oil & gas industry.”

In 2019, the company flew over 135 thousand miles in the Permian Basin, completing the largest aerial survey of methane emissions ever conducted. Kairos used the resulting data to grow its customer base by 71 percent and prevent 3.9 billion cubic feet of methane from being released into the atmosphere, which is equivalent to taking over 425 thousand cars off the road.

“John Crane, a Smith Group company, is delighted to partner with Kairos Aerospace, in support of their game-changing contribution to methane abatement,” said Jean Vernet, CEO and Division President, John Crane. “Kairos’ environmental technology enables the capture of critical, reliable and archivable data that will facilitate the efficient reduction of global methane emission across industries. The methane detection capabilities of Kairos respond to the energy industry-wide needs for more visibility into emissions reductions in response to evolving standards. This partnership is a testament of our commitment to be a proactive agent of greenhouse gas emissions reduction and environmental sustainability.”

Kairos also recently received third-party validation from experts in remote methane monitoring. A study conducted by Stanford University researchers provided unequivocal evidence that the company’s technology accurately and reliably identifies the large sources of methane that are responsible for 50 to 90 percent of total methane emissions in the field.

"Since Energy Innovation Capital's initial investment in 2017, Kairos has demonstrated its ability to cost effectively identify methane super emitters as a partner with the oil & gas industry," said Benjamin Stanzl, a Managing Director at EIC and member of the Kairos board. "We are excited to welcome John Crane on board alongside OGCI Climate Investments to broadly roll out Kairos' methane emission detection solutions to the industry."

About Kairos Aerospace

Founded in 2014 by Steve Deiker and Brian Jones, Kairos Aerospace provides large-scale, aerial monitoring of methane emissions. Kairos Aerospace completed the first-ever basin-wide aerial survey for methane detection in its 2019 survey of the Permian Basin. Kairos Aerospace’s mission is to improve operational excellence for the oil & gas industry with cost-effective, efficient methane reductions at scale. To learn more, visit kairosaerospace.com.

About OGCI Climate Investments

OGCI Climate Investments is a $1B+ fund that invests in solutions to decarbonize sectors like oil and gas, industrials and commercial transport. We look for outcomes that reduce methane and carbon dioxide emissions, and that can recycle or store carbon dioxide. Achieving significant impact requires global implementation and commercial frameworks – at OGCI Climate Investments, we collaborate with innovators, investors and governments to fund and implement impactful solutions. To learn more about OGCI Climate Investments, please visit www.oilandgasclimateinitiative.com/climate-investments.

About Energy Innovation Capital

Energy Innovation Capital is the premier capital provider for innovators serving the energy industry. EIC provides early and growth-stage funding for visionary entrepreneurs tackling global energy challenges with transformative, market-leading solutions. EIC’s team leverages our industry expertise, networks and collaborative approach to help talented entrepreneurs push the boundaries of what’s possible and build great companies. To learn more, visit energyinnovationcapital.com.

About John Crane

John Crane is a global leader in rotating equipment solutions, supplying engineered technologies and services to process industries. The company designs and manufactures a variety of products including mechanical seals and systems, couplings, filtration systems and predictive digital monitoring technologies. John Crane customer service is accessed through a global network of more than 200 sales and service facilities in over 50 countries. Fiscal year 2019 revenue was greater than 1.2 Billion USD (£945m). John Crane is part of Smiths Group, a global leader in applying advanced technologies for markets in threat and contraband detection, energy, medical devices, communications, and engineered components.