The Carbon to Value Initiative Announces Year 4 of the Initiative's Carbontech Accelerator Program

The accelerator seeks applications from innovative carbontech startups and announces newest Carbontech Leadership Council members 

SOMERVILLE, Mass. and HOUSTON and BROOKLYN, N.Y., April 16, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Carbon to Value Initiative (C2V Initiative)—a multi-year collaboration from the Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering (UFL), Greentown Labs, and Fraunhofer USA—enthusiastically announces the fourth year of its world-class carbontech accelerator program. 

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The C2V Initiative is driving the creation of a thriving innovation ecosystem for the commercialization of carbontech—technologies that capture and convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) into valuable end products or services—aiming to foster a community of industry leaders and entrepreneurs focused on both reducing harmful CO₂ emissions and spurring economic development.

For its fourth accelerator cohort, the C2V Initiative and its Carbontech Leadership Council (CLC) are welcoming applications from startups at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4-7 that are developing carbontech solutions. More specifically, the program collaborators are interested in carbontech innovations related to the following categories:

• Carbon Conversion to Added-value Products, e.g.:

  • CO2 to fuels (e.g. SAF/e-fuels)
  • CO2 to chemicals (e.g. methanol and higher carbon products such as C4+)
  • Biomass-based and/or other waste-carbon to value (e.g. chemical recycling, gasification, biochar)
  • Carbon mineralization (e.g. to building products, carbonates, fertilizers)

• Carbon Capture, e.g.:

  • Point-source capture (e.g. from energy and process emissions, hydrogen production, etc.)
  • Direct-air capture (DAC)
  • Gas-separation technologies (e.g. purification, biogas upgrading)

• Carbon Sequestration and Removal, e.g.:

  • Biomass carbon removal and storage (BiCRS) (e.g. waste biomass, biochar, biomass sinking and burial)
  • Enhanced mineralization and ocean alkalinization
  • Nature-based solutions (e.g. soil, forest, ocean)

These categories are not exhaustive, and overlap is possible. Startups with a novel carbontech innovation are encouraged to apply even if their technology is not listed above.

The program cohort will gain access to the C2V Initiative's CLC, an invitation-only group of corporate, nonprofit, and government thought leaders across diverse industry sectors who foster commercialization opportunities and identify avenues for technology validation, testing, and demonstration. Year 4 of the initiative will feature active involvement from all CLC member organizations, offering startups exposure to a diverse array of market and business verticals in addition to tailored mentorship from some of the industry's leading professionals. The goal of these startup-corporate engagements is to foster collaboration opportunities across the carbontech ecosystem.

Selected startups will work closely with the CLC and the C2V Initiative team over a six-month period to advance their commercialization efforts and mitigate risks of their carbontech innovations. They will also each receive a $10,000 stipend to support their participation in the accelerator. 

Today, the C2V Initiative proudly announces that CO₂Value Europe's Secretary General Anastasios Perimenis; Energy Impact Partners' Partner Ashwin Shashindranath; Evonik's Chief Innovation Officer Ralph Marquardt; Shell's General Manager, Commercial Innovation Partnerships Akilah LeBlanc; and Veolia's EVP Development, Strategy, Innovation Veronique Bourgier will become members of the CLC for Year 4. These companies and their representatives join C-level executives, executive directors, vice presidents, and other top leaders from the seven existing CLC members: BASF, Carbon180, the Consulate General of Canada in New York, Fluor, Johnson Matthey, W.L. Gore & Associates, and XPRIZE. Full details on the CLC and its representatives can be found here.

Since the C2V Initiative's inception, the program has supported 26 groundbreaking startups that have raised over $410M in follow-on funding, leading to partnership engagements and 200+ business relationships, technology advancement, and industry growth. Detailed results from Year 1, Year 2, and Year 3 are available.

"Carbontech is a critical suite of technologies required to scale at the gigaton level to achieve net-zero climate goals," said Frederic Clerc, C2V Initiative Director and Interim Managing Director for UFL. "However, to do so, this nascent industry requires massive ingenuity and support from government and industry. The C2V program provides strategic partnership opportunities to equip expert-vetted startups with resources that will accelerate their growth."

"NYU Tandon School of Engineering is committed to bridging academic research and entrepreneurialism to spur innovation," said Jelena Kovačević, NYU Tandon Dean and William R. Berkley Professor. "The Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon co-leads this one-of-a-kind program, which not only yields exceptional results, but fosters unique collaborations between the participating companies and our faculty, students, and partners. AIR COMPANY exemplifies the program's opportunities. A member of C2V's inaugural cohort, the company co-located to the lab of Miguel Modestino, director of NYU Tandon's Sustainable Engineering Initiative, to leverage expertise, resources and equipment for its cutting-edge research and development."

"The success of the Carbon to Value Initiative is a testament to the growing demand and enthusiasm for the deployment and commercialization of carbontech solutions," said Greentown Labs' CEO and President Kevin Knobloch. "Alongside our partners at Urban Future Lab and Fraunhofer USA, Greentown Labs is proud to continue catalyzing support for more startups working in this space and fostering collaborations with our impressive Carbontech Leadership Council."

"Fraunhofer USA continues to be excited lending our expertise to the Carbon to Value Initiative alongside our partners at the Urban Future Lab, Greentown Labs, and the program's Carbontech Leadership Council," said Dr. Thomas Schuelke, President of Fraunhofer USA. "C2V's support for startups commercializing cutting-edge carbontech solutions, from carbon capture to conversion into valuable end products, is vital to reducing emissions and fighting climate change. We look forward to driving these critical innovations through applied research and industry collaboration."

Applications for the fourth cohort of the C2V Initiative are due by June 21, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET. Applicants may apply from anywhere. To learn more and apply, visit the C2V Initiative's website.

About the Urban Future Lab at NYU Tandon School of Engineering

The Urban Future Lab at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering is a nonprofit innovation hub for best-in-class climatetech startups with a focus on clean energy and sustainable urban infrastructure solutions. It is home to ACRE, New York's longest-running climatetech incubator, Clean Start, an advanced certificate from NYU for people seeking a transition into the climatetech sector, the Carbon to Value Initiative and Offshore Wind Innovation Hub, which bring innovative technologies and solutions to industry leaders, and the Innovate UK Global Incubator Programme, which supports market entry in the U.S. for U.K.-based climatetech startups that can effectively scale and support the clean-growth goals of New York State. Through our five programs, we support innovators on their journey to scaling up and commercializing climate solutions. Since 2009, we've supported 170+ startups with an industry-leading 88% company survival rate and several impressive exits (Smarter Grid Solutions, Artemis, Go Electric, Keen Home, Honest Buildings). We have raised $2.5B+ in venture capital, project finance, and grants, created 4,100+ jobs, and facilitated 100+ events with 2,000+ attendees per year. We are proud to champion the brightest minds in climatetech innovation, providing them with the necessary support and resources to scale up their transformative solutions while leveraging New York's built environment and access to climate finance. For more information, visit ufl.nyc or LinkedIn and Instagram. For more information about NYU Tandon, visit engineering.nyu.edu.

About Greentown Labs

Greentown Labs is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit catalyzing climate solutions through entrepreneurship, partnership, and collaboration. As the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America, Greentown brings together startups, corporates, investors, policymakers, and others with a focus on scaling climate technologies. Driven by the mission of providing startups the community, connections, and resources they need to thrive, Greentown offers lab space, shared office space, machine shops, electronics labs, tool shops, software and business resources, and a large network of corporate customers, investors, and more. With incubators in Somerville, Mass. and Houston, Texas, Greentown is home to more than 200 startups and has supported more than 500 since the incubator's founding in 2011. These startups have collectively created more than 11,000 jobs and raised more than $5.7 billion in funding. For more information, visit www.greentownlabs.com or follow Greentown on LinkedIn.

About Fraunhofer USA

Fraunhofer USA, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that is dedicated to the advancement of applied research. Fraunhofer USA was founded in 1994 to conduct applied R&D for customers from industry and state governments and the federal government in the United States. Fraunhofer USA develops and validates scientific applications and technologies for industrial innovation in the USA. Fraunhofer USA's research centers in the United States and the Fraunhofer institutes of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany work together to provide the most versatile, cutting-edge technologies to a global market. Fraunhofer USA offers unique transatlantic business opportunities to close the innovation gap from the lab to the real market. The research centers of Fraunhofer USA pursue strategic alliances with one or more of the numerous Fraunhofer institutes of Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in Germany and with major research universities in the USA. For more information, please visit www.fraunhofer.org or LinkedIn and Twitter.

SOURCE Greentown Labs