Transforming the second most used commodity in the world
Our mission is to empower change through
sustainable innovation
Challenges
Cement currently accounts for 8% of global C02 emissions
Demand for cement is increasing by the day. So are costs and catastrophic weather events.
Opportunity
We made cement agile, scalable and carbon neutral
At Furno, we believe building the future shouldn’t cost our future, which is why we’re developing the world’s first nimble, modular, and carbon-neutral cement plant that scales with immediate need rather than capital-intensive demand twenty years from now.
Technology
First ever modular carbon-neutral technology
Compact and modular
Increased productivity and a smaller size enable a low CAPEX solution to enter and exit high-growth markets quickly and efficiently.
Increased energy efficiency
Less energy per ton of cement at a smaller-scale than today’s large state-of-the-art plants will enable a cost-competitive OPEX.
Regulatory compliant
The production of clinker is identical in composition and performance to the global standard. This enables us to plug into the cement supply chain.
Path to zero emissions
A purified modular stream of CO2 enables sale, utilization and/or storage of CO2 without the costs of capture and purification.
How it works
Step One
Furno accepts raw material from a source. This could include traditional raw material, recycled concrete fines, and/or alternative cement chemistries.
Step Two
Furno runs the raw material through our X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) spectrometer to determine the material’s precise elemental composition.
Step Three
We grind the raw meal, mixing small amounts of corrective materials such as clay and bauxite when needed to reach the ideal composition for clinker production.
Step Four
We then optimize the size and shape of the material before we send it to the kiln.
Step Five
We send a continuous flow of material into the kiln, where the raw meal undergoes four stages of preheating, calcining, sintering, and cooling in one highly-efficient, modular reactor.
While the material undergoes this series of chemical reactions, we use machine learning for real-time, instantaneous combustion optimization to produce superior-quality, ASTM-certified clinker.
About
Furno’s recipe for Innovation
Openness
Truthful and transparent communication is paramount to a flourishing environment. An openness to grappling with and respecting various points of view and ideas is necessary to ensure the most tried, most honed, most considered ideas prevail.
Curiosity
We seek to understand people and ideas. Disagreements are inevitable; however, curiosity enables us to cross bridges and build foundations of trust and respect. We treat each other as someone we’re responsible for which makes for a more united team.
Courage
Great things come from people who exercise great courage. It’s where talent meets opportunity. We make the most of the hand given to us. We understand risks, hard work, and sacrifice are required to reap the most fulfilling rewards.
Resilience
Obstacles will stand in our way. Sometimes, they will appear unexpectedly. Other times, we will know exactly where they are before we reach them. We will prepare for what we can, not lose faith when we can’t, and rely on each other as a team to build sustainably, toil tirelessly, and endeavor honestly for a more viable, renewable, verdant future.
Careers
We believe in pushing the boundaries
of what's possible
If you’re a talented individual who shares our passion for innovation and sustainability, we invite you to explore career opportunities with us. Find out more about our team members by clicking a portrait.
Current openings
R&D Mechanical Engineer (Mountain View, CA)
Today’s cement is made in large, expensive, fixed plants. And its production is one of the biggest contributors to climate emissions. With Furno Materials, Gurinder wants that to change.
As founder of Furno Materials, Gurinder and his colleagues are working to re-envision energy-efficient and zero-emission cement production by leveraging oxyfuel combustion and re-designing the cement plant to be compact and modular.
Born in India and raised in rural Australia, Gurinder received a Bachelor of Advanced Science from University of New South Wales, Sydney and a Master of Science in Earth Systems Science from Stanford University.
He expresses himself by devoting his efforts to intense physical exercise and taking on big, audacious problems. Before finding his passion for clean technology, Gurinder grew up dreaming of playing professional cricket.
Prasanth has been the Lead Scientist at Furno materials since April 2022. He has been working on technologies related to decarbonizing the construction sector for more than 10 years. At Furno, he is continuing his efforts in decarbonizing the cement industry.
Prior to joining Furno, he was a postdoctoral fellow in the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta since 2020. He earned his B.Tech and M.Tech in Civil Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (2014), and his PhD from Georgia Institute of Technology (2020). His research interests include Portland cement and alternative cement chemistries, computational modeling of cementitious systems, advanced material characterization, admixture interactions, special concretes mixtures, and concrete durability.
Jai is a Mechanical Engineer with a passion for automotive systems which drove him into the world of combustion. Over the course of his academic and professional career, he has investigated and analyzing conventional and novel hydrocarbon-based fuels to optimize combustion. Joining Furno as an R&D Scientist (Combustion) marks his return to the world of combustion after a short stint at Meta Reality Labs (Oculus), where Jai was a Product Design Engineer focused on optical modules for 3D sensing in AR/VR headsets.
Prior to Meta, he completed his PhD and MS in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC). He joined UIC after completing his B.E in Mechanical Engineering at University of Mumbai. His research interests include high pressure and high temperature shock tube studies, natural gas combustion and breakdown and fuel characterization.
Beck Goodloe has been the Lead Engineer at Furno Materials since February 2022. With a background in climate technology, he has taken on challenges like the prevention of illegal fishing in the Pacific Ocean and undergrounding of critical utilities to mitigate wildfires.
At Furno, he is now focused on driving deep decarbonization of the cement industry. He specializes in early-stage technology development, leveraging his experience in mechanical, hardware, and software integration. Beck earned his Bachelor's degree in Organic Chemistry in 2019 and his Master's degree in Mechanical Engineering in 2021 from Stanford University. During his time there he worked in the Autonomous Systems Laboratory and taught at Stanford's Product Realization Lab.
Kiersten comes to Furno with diverse experience across multiple sectors. She possesses a lifelong passion for and involvement in the health and wellness space, and has on two separate occasions been an Entrepreneur- and Co-Founder in-Residence at Deep Valley Labs (DVL), a venture laboratory based in Silicon Valley.
At DVL, she investigated the reversibility of unwanted epigenetic changes, and examined more targeted therapeutic approaches to combating highly-mutative cancers by way of the body’s own immune system. In a more recent venture, she founded a startup to both disrupt and bring a sense of cohesion to the digital and in-person experience of all things health and wellness.
Kiersten is a devoted, energetic, and detail-oriented leader, and is a skilled technical writer across a variety of domains. She has particular expertise in customer success, product design and project management, and first-hand knowledge in launching web and mobile applications.
Before entering the startup world, Kiersten was a lecturer at Stanford University. She holds a B.A. from UC Berkeley and a PhD from Stanford University. Kiersten is an enthusiastic anatomist, and in her free time teaches yoga and Pilates.
Experienced Chief Executive Officer with a demonstrated history of working in the IoT and Enterprise SaaS space. Skilled in Leading teams, Product Management, Negotiation, Operations Management, Enterprise Software and Entrepreneurship.
Emeric is an interdisciplinary researcher committed to driving innovative solutions within the clean-tech industry. At Furno, he leads the analysis and system optimization, and the development of computational models.
Trained as a physicist, Emeric has a decade of research experience, bringing together software and hardware components. While sponsored by NASA and NSF, he worked on climate and sustainability research, such as the utilization of decarbonized fuel in new 3D-printed ceramic burners. He also led a collaboration between Stanford radiologists and LBNL synchrotron physicists to develop novel X-ray imaging capabilities.
Emeric graduated with a MSc from École Centrale Paris, and a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University. His interest in research parallels his love for sports: when he's not crunching data or coding, he’s often found swimming or riding his bike.
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