We are on a mission

Back in 2010, Hans De Neve attends a Christmas lecture by Richard van de Sanden (DIFFER) on the future of renewable fuels. This is the moment where he realizes that e-fuels, and therefore circular CO₂, are the missing link between renewable electricity and a renewable world.

In 2018, a small team of researchers at TNO runs a series of experiments to validate Hans’ idea to use the porous material, that he created by accident, for direct air capture of CO₂. The first results are very promising and TNO investigates the option to create a spin-off company to further develop the technology and bring it to the market.

In 2019, Hans De Neve founds Carbyon in close collaboration with TNO and other stakeholders in the Brainport Eindhoven region. Carbyon joins the HighTechXL venture building program. HighTechXL is a deep-tech start-up incubator founded by, amongst others, ASML and Philips to support start-up companies in the area of high-tech mechatronics.

Carbyon opens up its first labs at the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven. These labs host specialized equipment to validate the adsorption and desorption behaviour of the sorbent as well as equipment to validate specialized mechatronic components of the machine design such as the heating system.

Carbyon’s promising technology has been recognized by winning the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Milestone Award. Back in 2022, Carbyon’s technology was still very premature. Winning the XPRIZE Carbon Removal Milestone Award illustrates the potential of our technology being unlocked by the outside world. The $1M was a huge enabler to take the next step in our technology development.

Thanks to several different funding sources such as the Brabant Startup Fund & a subsidy of the Province of Brabant, we have been able to cover our expenses of the first years. As the company is growing, a significant seed funding round of €7M is attracted, provided by a consortium of Invest-NL, Brabant Development Agency, Innovation Industries and Lowercarbon Capital. Welcome on board of our mission!

To test all our essential components in one machine and to experiment with different weather conditions, we developed two lab-scale machines able to filter CO₂ from ambient air. This prototype is needed to validate all aspects before building the first pilot machines.

Thanks to insights from tests on our new prototypes, Carbyon has found a missing piece of the puzzle. Carbyon successfully proofs that their unique fast-swing process is able to capture CO₂ using less than 2,500 kWh/ton. Fundamentally, this can only be done by the uniquely inhouse invented ultra-fast CO₂ capturing material. With this breakthrough, Carbyon takes a giant leap towards a cost-effective DAC technology below $100/ton.

Halfway 2024 we were able to close a new financing round of €15.3M! This will allow us to develop the first engineering-scale demonstrators, start commercial pilot testing and prepare for an ambitious scale-up. Our previous investors all step in again and are joined by three new parties: Siemens Financial Services, Omnes Capital and Global Cleantech Capital. During our Investor Day, the team and investors met and celebrated this milestone together!

In the meanwhile we have developed and bought a lot of new measurement equipment and our team has grown to around 40 people. Our previous office became too tight so we moved to High Tech Campus building 32. We needed a more professional and safe place for our lab equipment, so we entered a new lab in building 29. Hello daylight!

There are some key moments in the history of invention. Think the moment brother’s Wright’s plane took off, or the very first time mr. Bell could actually speak to someone on the other side of the phone line. Well, testing our new proof of concept machine was Carbyon’s. With this very moment we have technically proven that our novel machine concept works. Carbyon’s plane took off!

In 2025 we will launch our first outdoor machine which will be developed with the knowledge that we gain from our integrated prototype. The machine will be placed on our new outdoor test location at the High Tech Campus, open for visitors. Looking forward welcoming you to show our technology in action!

To make a true impact on our climate challenge, we must think big. We are therefore preparing for our scale up to produce 50.000 machines per year in 2031.

At Carbyon we begin with the end in mind, being our purpose. As Carbyon has been able to develop a scalable and affordable air capture solution using breakthrough technology, Carbyon achieved to capture CO₂ from the atmosphere on a gigaton scale worldwide. With that, Carbyon managed to reverse climate change as the atmospheric carbon balance has been restored. Next step? Keeping it balanced thanks to Carbyon’s technology.