Italian startup CarpeCarbon to design DAC plant after €1.7M funding round

CarpeCarbon, a Turin-based climatetech startup, has raised €1.7 million in a Pre-Seed funding round. Similar to Germany's Greenlyte Carbon Technologies, CarpeCarbon is the first Italian outfit working on technologies that use Direct Air Capture to remove CO² from the atmosphere and store it safely underground, and intends to use the investment to design the first Italian DAC plant in Piedmont. 

As opposed to carbon capture, which happens at the point of emission, CarpeCarbon’s Direct Air Capture approach filters CO² directly from the atmosphere at any location.

This captured CO² can then be stored below ground and used in a wide range of industrial applications including the production of sustainable aviation fuels, pharmaceutical production, battery recycling processes for electric vehicles, carbon-neutral construction materials, production of carbonated beverages, and decaffeinated products. 

CarpeCarbon co-founder and CEO Giuliano Antoniciello shared:

"We strongly believe in this entrepreneurial project which sets bold but necessary goals if we want to meet our climate goals and the goals of the Paris Agreement. 

“One aspect of which I am particularly proud is that our team is young, passionate, and extremely competent, with more than 65 years of total advanced training, including masters and PhDs in STEM fields, ranging from carbon capture chemistry to energy engineering."

CarpeCarbon’s €1.765 million Pre-Seed funding round was provided by CDP Venture Capital’s Tech4Planet initiative and 360 Capital. Additional investors include the Club Degli Investitori network and the PiemonteNext co-investment fund.

CDP Venture Captial technology transfer fund’s Claudia Pingue added:

“For the Tech4Planet Technology Transfer Pole, it is a source of pride to have brought the idea of CarpeCarbon to the market, and also to have involved the regional co-investment fund Piemonte Next, which arises from the  Region's desire to support innovation that originates in the region. 

“CarpeCarbon's solution has the ingredients  to mitigate, through innovative technologies, the effects of climate change.”

Lead image: kjpargeter