Ucaneo, a Berlin, Germany-based provider of direct air capture (DAC) technologies for CO2 removal, raised €6.75m in seed funding incl. grants.
The round was led by Smart Energy Innovationsfonds (SEIF) by Energie 360° and IBB Ventures, with participation from new investors such as the Plug and Play Sustainability Fund. Additionally, existing investors Grantham Environmental Trust, Carbon Removal Partners, Nucleus Capital, Apprecia Capital, and notable angels including Flix founders and Pjotr van Schothorst also contributed.
The company intends to use the funds to build one of the largest DAC testing and development facilities in Germany as well as develop its first industrial product supporting its mission to remove 0.5 GT of CO2 from the air by 2035.
Led by Florian Tiller, Co-founder and CEO, and Carla Glassl, Co-founder and CTO, Ucaneo has developed state-of-the-art electrochemical technology that mimics the human lung and how CO2 is managed in the human body. Utilising electricity and a specialised biomimetic solvent, Ucaneo removes atmospheric CO2 at continuous regeneration at room temperature, concentrating CO2 into a pure gas ready for industrial use. The DAC technology is highly energy-efficient and compatible with variable intermittent renewable energy sources such as solar and wind energy, allowing for energy price arbitrage and a flexible, on-demand CO2 removal.
Supported by an extensive TEA and an external third-party feasibility study, Ucaneo’s technology can achieve costs of just below €300/tCO2 already in the upcoming years, making it one of the cheapest DAC solutions in the world. In the long-term, the company targets a removal price of below €100/tCO2. By 2026, Ucaneo aims to have their first industrial-sized product in place at one of the largest DAC testing and development facilities in Germany proving performance and scalability. This will be part of their first project supported by the Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund, where Ucaneo was chosen as 1 of 13 suppliers from over 220 Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR) suppliers.
To reach their goals, the company has moved to the high-tech Campus in Marzahn led by Berlin.Industrial.Group and the hardtech innovation ecosystem MotionLab.Berlin.
FinSMEs
12/09/2024