💨 160 Frontrunners Flipping the Script on CO2 to Decarbonise Industry

We need to remove up to 9 billion tonnes of CO₂ from the atmosphere per year, to stay on track with the 1.5°C Paris Agreement target.

One way to accelerate progress is by transforming CO₂ from a problem into a resource— fuelling the next industrial revolution.

Enter CCU. Short for ‘carbon capture and utilisation’.

The process of separating out CO₂ from one (industrial) process or captured directly from the air (direct air capture, DAC) and reused as an input stream for another industrial application.

It captures industrial carbon emissions at the source of emission, using it to make beneficial products like concrete, plastic, or even food, helping to create a circular economy and reduce reliance on fossil carbon.

Sounds (almost) too good to be true. So what are the hurdles, opportunities and impact potential of these novel technologies?

We caught up with 10 frontrunners in this space to uncover where they’re heading and what’s next for CCU and built a list of 160+ Startups and Scaleups in the space to know.

120 CCU Startups Mapped

Startups are utilising CO₂ to create new materials, fuels, chemicals, foods, minerals and more, here we map 120 frontrunners to know, plus scroll on down for the full list of 160 Carbon Utilisation Startups.

10 Founders Weigh In on CCU’s Potential

Carbon for Biomineralisation

As the race to remove carbon from the atmosphere accelerates, innovators are turning to nature for inspiration. Biomineralisation, a process found in corals and shells, is emerging as a promising solution—capturing CO₂ and transforming it into valuable materials.

‘Biomineralization has the unique potential to work at low CO₂ concentration, enabling CO₂ removal directly from the air and permanent storage. Additionally, the minerals are produced sustainably and have rare properties making them really valuable in multiple industries,’ Caroline Thaler of Bloomineral tells us.

Carbon for Fuels and Chemicals 

The fuel and chemical industry relies on carbon for both energy and molecular building blocks, and repurposing CO₂ offers a path to zero-emissions.

‘Turning CO₂ into green biochemicals thanks to Microalgae and NeoCarbons' technology creates a local, sustainable, circular economy by replacing fossil-based inputs in key industries (fuels, plastics, fine chemicals, Food & Feed ). This reduces carbon emissions (scope 3) while providing scalable, cost-effective alternatives that align with global climate goals, regulatory shifts, and growing corporate sustainability commitments,’ notes Jean-Louis Roux dit Buisson of NeoCarbons

‘Currently, the chemical industry is very linear - we extract fossil fuels, and by using them they end up in the atmosphere as CO₂ (around 4% of annual emissions). Despite knowing the consequences, we keep doing this because carbon-based chemicals are extremely useful, whether as plastics, fuels, specialty chemicals, or pharmaceuticals. By using CO₂ as the source of carbon, we can move from a linear industry to a circular one. We can recycle emissions into brand new chemicals that behave exactly the same as the fossil-based chemicals we have built whole industries around, but without the environmental consequences,’ explains Alexander Ip of CERT Systems

‘One of the biggest opportunities in carbon utilisation is avoiding gaseous transport while creating novel materials. By turning CO₂ into methanol, a liquid product that can easily be transported, we can much more easily create a circular economy and drive industrial decarbonization. Additionally, methanol is a chemical that can decarbonize ~11% of global emissions through use as a chemical feedstock or use as fuel for shipping and jet fuel,’ concludes Harrison Meyer of Oxylus Energy

Carbon for Materials

Plastics, fibres, and rubber have long depended on fossil carbon—but captured CO₂ can now take its place. Since these materials underpin countless products, from clothing to cars, the impact is vast.

‘Transforming CO₂ into recycled plastic creates carbon-negative materials that actively remove emissions while producing high-performance products. Regenesis achieves this by embedding biochar into polymers, storing atmospheric carbon inside plastic. This innovation reduces reliance on fossil fuels and enables a truly circular, regenerative economy,’ shares Marcos Bulacio of Regenesis

Carbon for Construction

Our homes, cities, roads, energy, AI, and all critical infrastructure are built on a foundation of concrete held together by cement. The problem? Cement accounts for roughly 8% of global CO2 emissions. Cement’s carbon problem runs deeper than just burning fossil fuels—it’s baked into the chemistry. Most of its emissions come from breaking down limestone, not from energy use alone. 

‘In the case of cement, fossil fuels only make up ~40% of the sector's total emissions. The majority are from the chemical breakdown of limestone (CaCO3) to clinker (CaO + CO2), the main ingredient in cement. By reducing the clinker ratio in cement, we can reduce the majority of cement's emissions. This can be done by using cementitious alternatives like our materials made from upcycled CO2 and industrial byproducts. It's a truly circular story - using CO2 emissions to create valuable, local materials that abate more CO2,’ notes Dante Luu of Carbon Upcycling.

Carbon for Food 

By leveraging carbon capture and fermentation microbial cultures can convert CO₂ into versatile protein ingredients independent from agricultural land. 

‘This approach creates an extremely resilient food supply, independent of weather and climate conditions—essentially building a backup to potential multi-breadbasket failures,’ says Adnan Oner of Farmless

‘Using CO₂ and turning it into food ingredients or other materials is a great way of reducing GHG emissions and reducing deforestation, the need for fertlisers, pesticides and thus improving biodiversity as well. Ingredients produced form CO₂ and H₂ are used as drop-in solutions which means that the infrastructure used today for making these materials and food ingredients can be used which will make these ingredients and materials easy to adapt to and the consumer won’t know the difference from the original,’ explains Annette Granéli of Green-On

‘Today biomanufacturing has the potential to solve some of the most pressing challenges facing humanity particularly food security without adding more emissions and preserving biodiversity. To this end capturing CO₂ at the point source and converting inorganic CO₂ into organic carbon as a feedstock for fermentation processes, thereby substituting sugars which are constrained by both cost and supply can help achieve the much needed price parity in the long run as technologies converge,’ adds Shriyansh Sonawane of Terramatter.

Carbon for Agriculture

As the agricultural sector faces increasing pressure to reduce its carbon footprint, and combat declining soil fertility, CCU can address both environmental and productivity challenges. By integrating carbon-capturing technologies into farming practices, it’s possible to restore soil health while reducing emissions.

‘The fertiliser industry is a major emitter in agriculture, creating opportunities for carbon-capturing fertilisers that integrate into existing supply chains. Innovation must balance sustainability with yield optimisation, enabling fertilisers to remove CO₂ while maintaining productivity. This shift aligns with global efforts to reduce emissions without compromising food security,’ explains Pawat Anekritmongkol of CO2llect

Navigating Scalability

If CCU has the potential to make a significant contribution to removing up to 9 billion tonnes of CO₂ we need to remove from the atmosphere per year, scalability will be key.

‘Scaling requires optimizing production efficiency and reducing costs to compete with fossil-based alternatives. Securing industrial adoption, demonstrating large-scale feasibility, and accessing financing for infrastructure remain key hurdles. Strategic partnerships with industry leaders and investors will be critical to accelerating NeoCarbons' technology deployment and ensuring long-term market viability,’ concludes Jean-Louis Roux dit Buisson of NeoCarbons

‘Obviously, the fossil-based chemical industry has become very optimised and integrated over the past century. It is difficult for new technologies to enter into such an entrenched value chain. So for us, a big challenge is getting to a meaningful scale to make a real impact on emissions. It will require making many partnerships with like-minded organisations to grow and build a circular value chain’, adds Alexander Ip of CERT Systems

‘The main challenge with this technology to overcome as we scale is the relatively high CapEx needs for this type of technology. Though, replacing fats and oils from animal and tropical sources as Green-On is doing, will lead to high avoided emissions per invested CapEx’, says Annette Granéli of Green-On

Decarbonisation in the HackSummit Spotlight

There’s no silver bullet to large-scale decarbonisation, that’s why hundreds of Founders will be headed to Lausanne, Switzerland for the next edition of the HackSummit, where they’ll showcase their novel approaches, fresh thinking and radical science to tackle arguably the biggest challenge facing the planet today.

Bringing together 850 Climate Mavericks (Founders, Funders, Corporates, Researchers, Scientists, Policy Makers, Asset Managers) the HackSummit, on May 15-16th, is the pinnacle of a week of Climate conversations, innovation and action in the lakeside city of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Sound like your type of crowd? Secure your place with 20% off when you use discount code EARLYBIRD20.

160 Frontrunners in CCU

We’ve built this community-sourced list of Founders working in CCU. If we’ve missed someone, you can add them here.