Turin, November 15th 2023 - CarpeCarbon, the Italian startup pioneer in Direct Air Capture (DAC) of atmospheric CO2, finalises a pre-seed round of € 1,765. 000 signed by Tech4Planet, the National Technology Transfer Centre for Environmental Sustainability launched on the initiative of CDP Venture Capital Sgr, and 360 Capital, together with the Club Degli Investitori network and the PiemonteNext co-investment fund, established and managed by CDP Venture Capital Sgr and endorsed by the regional finance company FinPiemonte to maximise investments in innovation for the territory.

With headquarters in Turin, CarpeCarbon is the first Italian company aiming to develop technologies for the removal from the atmosphere and the safe and permanent underground storage of large quantities of CO2, the main responsible of global warming. The objective is to filter the air to retain the CO2 molecules emitted in the past by burning fossil fuels, following a cyclic process whose result is negative emissions. CarpeCarbon's technology also allows the captured CO2 to be used for a wide range of industrial applications, including the production of net zero synthetic aviation fuels, pharmaceutical production, battery recycling processes for electric vehicles, carbon-neutral construction materials, production of carbonated beverages and decaffeinated products.

CarpeCarbon accepts the challenge to produce the largest positive effect, both environmentally and socially, by reducing costs and energy consumption of a technology that, to this day, has been extremely energy-intensive therefore allowing for a rapid scale-up. The investment received by CarpeCarbon’s team to design the first Italian DAC plant in Piedmont marks a milestone in the development of the Italian and European Climate Tech sector, paving the way for companies to create value and positive returns by tackling one of the biggest sustainability challenges.

“We strongly believe in this entrepreneurial project”, said Giuliano Antoniciello, CEO and co-founder, “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 (average age is 32), passionate, and extremely competent, with more than 50 years of total advanced training, including masters and PhDs in STEM fields, ranging from carbon capture chemistry to energy engineering.”

As pointed out by Claudia Pingue, Manager of CDP Venture Capital Sgr’s Technology Transfer Fund, “'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. In CarpeCarbon we recognised the significant growth potential needed in the market for carbon credits, which increased in volume by 27 times between 2020 and 2022, and for industrial use CO2”.

SAccording to Alessandro Zaccaria, Investment Director of 360 Capital, “synthetic net zero fuels for aviation and the recycling of electric vehicle batteries are among the many possible industrial applications of captured CO2: these are excellent indicators of the great importance of the removal and reuse of atmospheric CO2 in the transition towards a sustainable economy.”

Andrea Rota, Managing Director of the Investors' Club, confirms that “awe have found in CarpeCarbon many elements that stimulate our members: a mission, the fight against climate change, which is essential; a ground-breaking and unique technological approach; a founder with a strong entrepreneurial drive and two valuable lead investors. We are now putting at the service of Giuliano and his team the network and expertise of the members of the Investors Club, led in this operation by champions Dario Cintioli and Beppe Marocco.”