In response to the challenges accelerated by climate change, much of the attention has been paid to introducing more efficient technologies that have less of a carbon footprint as well as transitioning away from fossil fuels. However, the transition to a low-carbon energy future can’t be considered without the development of emission reduction solutions like carbon capture, utilization, and storage (CCUS) whether in the air, ocean, or factory smokestacks. Captura is a Pasadena-based carbon removal company that has developed a solution to remove carbon dioxide from the world’s oceans, at scale. Developed at Caltech, the company has patented an electrodialysis process that extracts a stream of pure carbon dioxide from the ocean that can be stored for usage in other carbon applications. It’s estimated that ocean water absorbs 30% of the world’s emissions. The entire operation is powered by renewable energy and the ocean itself, resulting in lower costs as compared to similar applications. The company, last summer, began its initial live pilots off in Newport Beach and the company’s next iteration, expected to be launched in 2023, will be capable of removing 100 tons of carbon dioxide annually.
LA TechWatch caught up with Captura CEO Steve Oldham to learn more about the business, the company’s strategic plans, recent round of funding, and much, much more…
Who were your investors and how much did you raise?
The Series A $12M raise was led by Equinor Ventures, the corporate arm of multinational energy company Equinor, and joined by Aramco Ventures, the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Future Planet Capital, Hitachi Ventures, and mTerra Ventures.
Tell us about your product or service.
Using only renewable electricity and ocean water as inputs, Captura’s technology removes carbon dioxide (CO2) from the ocean and delivers a measurable and verifiable stream of CO2 that can be permanently stored or utilized in low-carbon products, such as sustainable aviation fuel. The CO2-depleted ocean water then draws down an equivalent quantity of CO2 from the atmosphere, utilizing the ocean’s natural capacity as one of the world’s largest carbon sinks.
What inspired the start of Captura?
The company was founded out of Caltech in Pasadena. Harry Atwater and CX Xiang had developed a new technology and saw its considerable potential for addressing one of the toughest problems in fighting climate change – removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
How is it different?
Captura’s approach lends itself to immense scalability and cost-effectiveness. By leveraging the ocean to remove atmospheric CO2, Captura’s technology avoids the need to move vast amounts of air over man-made absorbents, as is the case with many land-based Direct Air Capture technologies. The process requires no rare earth elements, produces no by-products, and can take advantage of existing ocean-based infrastructure for large-scale deployments, such as desalination plants or retired oil and gas platforms. The technology also has the potential to assist in addressing ocean acidification.
What market you are targeting and how big is it?
Carbon removal solutions, like Captura’s Direct Ocean Capture technology, provide a critical capability in the fight against climate change – the ability to address any CO2 emission, from any place, and at any moment in time. In the near term, this provides a tool for the hardest-to-decarbonize sectors of the economy, such as aviation and shipping, to address their CO2 emissions and achieve net zero. Many experts estimate that approx. 10-20% of the world’s emissions will be too difficult to eliminate and thus will likely require carbon removal to achieve net zero.
In the long term, it provides a tool to address CO2 emissions from the past, eventually enabling full climate restoration.
CO2 captured via Direct Ocean Capture can also be used to produce low-carbon products such as sustainable fuel or lower-carbon concrete and chemicals.
What’s your business model?
Captura plans to use a licensing business model in which our technology is provided to project developers worldwide to build large-scale commercial facilities. This approach enables fast and widespread deployment of our technology, so it can quickly scale to address the climate crisis.
How are you preparing for a potential economic slowdown?
The growing worldwide concern about the impacts of climate change means that action is required now. We’ve seen action to develop the technologies needed to fight climate change – for example, the recent Inflation Reduction Act here in the US. We believe that the climate sector will continue to grow and provide opportunities for investment and jobs even during any upcoming economic slowdown.
What was the funding process like?
We were pleased to receive a significant amount of interest in this Series A funding round. The world is now aware of the urgent need to address climate change, and as a result we’re seeing a huge amount of interest flow into the scalable and cost-effective solutions that are available. Captura’s technology has immense potential and this is now being recognized by the wider industry and financial community.
What are the biggest challenges that you faced while raising capital?
Our biggest challenge was around awareness of our solution. Captura was founded in 2021 and so we’re a relatively young company. Our technology was developed at Caltech and is a highly scalable, cost-effective carbon removal tool that can help companies and governments achieve their critical net zero commitments. It is a new carbon removal pathway that addresses many of the challenges faced by other technologies in the space. With this funding round and the support we’ve received from Carbon Removal XPRIZE, the Department of Energy, and Frontier Climate, we’re pleased to see awareness of Direct Ocean Capture technology really starting to increase.
What are the milestones you plan to achieve in the next six months?
Captura is excited to move into the next phase of growth with the backing of our strategic investors. This phase will involve the acceleration of our rigorous piloting program, while we simultaneously continue improving the technology.
In 2022, Captura began ocean trials of our first pilot system that is capable of capturing one ton of CO2 annually in Newport Beach. We are currently building our next-generation pilot system that will have 100x the capacity of the first and is expected to be installed at an ocean-based facility in 2023. In parallel, our engineers and scientists are developing proprietary optimized membranes to increase electrical efficiency and further reduce removal costs.
