The climate tech venture capital branch of Australian company Twynam shared that it led a pre-seed funding round for Brooklyn-based company Vycarb.
The US startup is developing a scalable water-based decarbonization technology, promising a low-cost solution for capturing and storing carbon at a price of less than $100/t.
Founded back in 2022 by Garrett Boudinot, Vycarb has been making great strides on its journey to deliver an accessible decarbonization solution by leveraging the vast potential of the ocean—the planet’s biggest carbon sink.
Vycarb produces both hardware and software systems that employ the Ocean Alkalinity Enhancement (OAE) method, mimicking the naturally occurring process in which carbon dioxide binds to an alkaline, such as crushed rocks.
By dosing alkaline minerals to an enclosed reactor submerged in waters with high CO2 concentration, their technology catalyzes a reaction in which the CO₂ gets in contact with the water, dissolves, and reacts with the alkaline material, creating stable molecules like bicarbonate.
Relying on the natural flow of water, the systems created by Vycarb allow lower-energy operations, turning this process into an affordable and durable carbon storage method that can keep the carbon molecules stable in the water for 10,000+ years.
What sets Vycarb apart from other ocean-based solutions on the market is its advanced sensing technology, allowing for precise, real-time progress monitoring. The company’s automated, direct measurement technology self-optimizes processes, improving data accuracy and contributing to high-quality results.
Relevant: New Research Highlights The Key Role Of Tiny Marine Animals For Ocean-Based CO2 Removal
All these assets have attracted the attention of various investors during the short period of Vycarb’s existence, leading to prepurchases by Stripe and Milkywire, a $100k sale with Frontier, an investment from Rio Tinto, and a potential first-of-its-kind CO2 removal deal with the US federal government.
The startup already has multiple pilots live on the US East Coast, and their largest demonstration project so far, located in New York City’s East River, has the capacity to capture up to 100 tonnes of CO₂ per year.
This decision by Twynam to invest in Vycarb marks the fifth instance of financial support provided by their Earth Fund, dedicated to providing early-stage capital for initiatives working on improving our planet.
Read more: New Study Questions Effectiveness Of Ocean-Based Carbon Removal Methods
